TRANSPORT

Mobility Vehicles

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from operators of mobility vehicles about the withdrawal of mobility breakdown cover by motoring organisations; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: We have received representations from a number of disabled people affected by the withdrawal of breakdown cover for these vehicles and we have discussed this issue both with the motoring organisations and with representatives of wheelchair manufacturers and suppliers. We will continue to support initiatives to offer a similar service in future.

Motorcycles

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage the development and use of practical alternatives to permanent tints of less than 50 per cent. light transmittance in motorcycle visors for daytime use only; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I have called for standards bodies to encourage the development of visor designs that lend themselves to both day and night time use. I understand that the relevant technical committee at the British Standards Institution has decided that the matter should be brought to the attention of the corresponding technical committee at the International Standards Organisation.
	In addition, the Department is planning new research on motorcyclists' helmets and visors that, among other things, would include work to:
	(i) help develop requirements better suited to light reactive visor materials or other means of dealing with low sun and sun glare; and
	(ii) evaluate new visor concepts.
	The research is expected to start in September this year and finish by November 2005.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for changes in the level of rail services in Scotland.

Tony McNulty: The Scottish Executive are responsible for funding and specifying services in Scotland provided under the ScotRail franchise. The Executive, together with the Strategic Rail Authority, are working towards the re-letting of the current franchise, which ends in 2004.

Railways

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 128W, on railways, whether Thameslink has asked for approval from (a) the SRA and (b) Network Rail to exceed the prescribed journey times; and if he will list Thameslink core routes and prescribed permitted journey times.

David Jamieson: The SRA have informed me that the information they gave me for the answer given on 12 May 2003 was incorrect. In consequence, the hon. Member was misinformed. I regret this has happened. The SRA have apologised for the error. The SRA have now told me that Thameslink have, in fact, requested and received approval from them to exceed the prescribed maximum journey times for the services listed in the table. The SRA have granted derogations as the prescribed journey times are being exceeded because of capacity constraints, and in several cases, because this allows services to be extended from Luton, where they would otherwise terminate, to Bedford. Network Rail does not prescribe maximum journey times.
	The approvals granted by the SRA are:
	
		Minutes
		
			 Service Prescribed maximum journey time Actual journey time 
		
		
			  Kings Cross Thameslink to Bedford (weekdays) 
			 17.42 72 80 
			 20.06 72 74 
			  Kings Cross Thameslink to Bedford (Saturdays) 
			 17.51 72 74 
			 18.21 72 74 
			 19.51 72 76 
			  BlackfriarsLuton (weekdays) 
			 09.05 49 50 
			 09.32 49 50 
			  BlackfriarsLuton (Saturdays) 
			 17.27 48 49 
			 17.57 48 49 
			 18.27 48 49 
			 18.57 48 49 
		
	
	The permitted journey times (for weekdays) specified for Thameslink's core routes are as follows:
	London BlackfriarsBedford: 68 minutes provided that it shall be 60 minutes for 80 per cent. of services. If services call at Luton Airport Parkway, the maximum journey time shall be 72 minutes provided that it shall be 62 minutes for 80 per cent. of services;
	London Blackfriars to Luton: 47 minutes save that services calling additionally at Luton Airport Parkway may take 49 minutes;
	Kings Cross Thameslink to Brighton: 99 minutes provided that it shall be 85 minutes for 75 per cent. of services; and
	Kings Cross Thameslink to Sutton via Wimbledon: 68 minutes provided that it shall be 62 minutes for 80 per cent. of services.

Sustainable Development

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what remit relating to sustainable development is (a) required of and (b) undertaken by his Department's (i) executive agencies, (ii) advisory non-departmental bodies, (iii) executive non-departmental bodies, (iv) tribunals, (v) public corporations and (vi) other bodies.

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what remit relating to sustainable development is required by his Department's (a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies.

Tony McNulty: All of the bodies for which my Department is responsible are committed to the objectives set out in the Government's overall strategy for sustainable development, A Better Quality of Life (Cm 4345), published in May 1999. In addition, they are expected to operate within the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Uninsured Drivers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2003, Official Report, column 743W, on uninsured drivers, what the overall cost of uninsured driving was in Great Britain between 1997 and 2001; and what assessment has been made of the average increase in the insurance premium of a motorist in each of these years.

David Jamieson: Estimates from the insurance industry show that, for the years 1997 to 2001 inclusive, the estimated cost of uninsured driving was 1,280 million. This is a running figure that includes cases arising from accidents that happened (and were settled) during those years and accidents occurring in previous years but only settled in those years.
	For the year 2002 the resulting increase in each motorist's insurance premium is estimated at between 15 and 30, however no figures are available for previous years.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination.

Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland Office aims to ensure that its staff are treated fairly and equally by promoting equal opportunities policies whereby no employee or job applicant is unfairly discriminated against either directly or indirectly on a number of grounds, including age. All staff are provided with a copy of this policy.
	In addition, in compliance with its statutory duty under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Department has due regard to the promotion of equality of opportunity between persons in nine specified categories, which include persons of different ages. Both internal and outward focused policies and practices are screened to ensure that they do not have an adverse impact on any of the nine categories, including those of different ages.
	None of the Department's policies has age restrictions except in relation to retirement. Since 4 October 2002, Northern Ireland Civil Servants employed in the Northern Ireland Office have had the option of remaining in post up to the age of 65, subject to satisfactory performance and attendance. For Home Civil Service staff working in the Northern Ireland Office, the subject of retirement age is under review. Staff were made aware of the change of policy by means of a general circular issued on that date.
	For Home Civil Service staff working in the Northern Ireland Office, the subject of retirement age is under consideration.
	The 11 Departments within the Northern Ireland Administration refer the hon. Member to their answer to the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds) on 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 650W.

Asylum Seekers

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many asylum seekers are living in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Belfast, South.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
	The information is not available in the form requested.
	The availability of information on the location of asylum seekers in the UK is currently linked to the support the asylum seeker receives. Asylum seekers in the UK either receive support from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), local authorities or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), or are supporting themselves.
	At the end of March 2003, 190 1 asylum seekers (including dependants) were being supported in NASS accommodation in Northern Ireland, of whom 150 1 were resident in Belfast. Figures are not currently available for Belfast, South.
	At the end of March 2003, 25 1 asylum seekers (including dependants) were in receipt of subsistence-only support in Northern Ireland, of whom fewer than 20 were resident in Belfast. Figures are not currently available for Belfast, South.
	No information is held centrally on the location of residence of asylum seekers supported by DWP or who support themselves.
	1 Figures have been rounded to nearest five. These figures exclude cases where support has been ceased.

Departmental Underspend

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the underspend by Departments in Northern Ireland for the year ending 31 March 2002 will not be carried forward to the next financial year.

Ian Pearson: The full amount of end-year flexibility (EYF) that Northern Ireland is entitled to carry forward from 200102 is being retained under the normal arrangements. Underspends to be carried forward into 200203 in respect of 200102 were originally based on an estimate of departmental spend made in the early summer of 2002. This has subsequently been revised to take account of actual departmental spend in 200102 and will be drawn down in 200304, subject to agreement by the Treasury.
	Of the actual underspend by Northern Ireland Departments for 200102, some amounts were outside the EYF arrangements: resources of 3.6 million in respect of the Interconnector scheme were not carried forward into future years. This was a specific ring-fenced and time-bounded scheme where the original allocation was not required in full. In addition, resources of 9.9 million in respect of the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme I (EUPRP I) were not carried forward into future years. Due to changes in the Sterling/Euro exchange rates and other technicalities during the life of the Programme, these resources were not required to secure the full draw-down of eligible funding from Brussels.
	Under Treasury rules, some Reserve claims have to be deducted from the following year's end-year flexibility (EYF): in respect of 200102, amounts of 1.9 million had to be treated in that way. Also, as had been agreed following the 2000 Spending Review (SR 2000), the EYF claim was abated by an amount of 22.1 million to correct an over-allocation which arose in SR 2000. These had been allowed for in the planning of budgets and did not affect departmental budgets.

Efficiency Savings

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the target is for efficiency savings in 200304 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit.

Paul Murphy: Within the Northern Ireland Office the efficiency target, built into last year's Spending Review outcome, requires the Department to continue to secure 2.5 per cent. efficiency savings annually in our core departmental administration costs. These core costs of 57.6 million represent 34 per cent. of the department's total administration cost limit.
	Within the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration the 200304 spending plans do not contain specific efficiency savings targets expressed in money terms or as a percentage of departmental expenditure limits. However, the drive to achieve greater efficiency is evidenced by the ongoing development and refinement of Public Service Agreements and Service Delivery Agreements. In addition, the key aim of the reform agenda and Departmental Reform Plans is to improve performance in terms of delivering better quality services to the public.
	All spending programmes and projects also remain subject to the completion of satisfactory scrutiny and analysis in respect of their value for money.

Northern Ireland Civic Forum

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs were incurred by the Northern Ireland Civic Forum in the last 12 months; and how many times the body met during the same period.

Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to question reference 100724. Since providing this answer, an additional 18,535 administration costs were met in 200203 for actions carried out by the Civic Forum prior to suspension.
	The Civic Forum met on three occasions in plenary format during the period April 2002 to 14 October 2002.

Pay Audits

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on completing a pay audit in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies to measure any disadvantage in terms of remuneration for (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) people with disabilities; and if he will publish the results of such an audit.

Paul Murphy: An Equal Pay Review has been carried out by the Northern Ireland Office in respect of the Department and its agencies in order to identify any gender pay gap. The findings are currently being considered by the unions and we aim to finalise it in July 2003.
	The Equal Pay Review only examined gender pay. In parallel with this Review, we separately examined performance ratings of women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities to measure any disadvantage in the operation of the performance management system.
	A copy of the action plan will be placed in the Library of the House once internal discussions are complete.
	The 11 Departments within the Northern Ireland Administration carried out a review of its pay and grading arrangements in 1998, which examined the gender gap between administrative grades, that are majority female, and professional and technical grades, that are predominantly male. We are in the process of implementing a programme of work arising from the review and this will be complete by April 2004. The need for a further equal pay audit that will also include other groups covered by section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 is currently under consideration.

Peace II European Initiative

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress on funding for organisations under the Peace II European Initiative in North Belfast.

Ian Pearson: No projects were funded during 2001. However, during 2002, 71 projects with a total value of 8 million were allocated funding under the Peace II Programme in the North Belfast area and 12 projects with funding of 1.5m have been approved in 2003 to date. The information relates to projects that have been allocated funding with a postal address in the North Belfast Parliamentary Constituency. Where the project address is incomplete, further analysis has been carried out on the applicant address. The figures, therefore, have been produced by first including those projects with a project address in Belfast North and then adding those where the project address is incomplete but the applicant address is in Belfast North. However, where it is apparent that the benefit of the project clearly falls outside North Belfast, these amounts have been excluded. Also, the impacts of any project may extend beyond the geographical location of the project itself.

Reform and Reinvestment Initiative

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the interest rate for borrowings is under the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative; and what the interest rate for PPP projects is.

Ian Pearson: The Reinvestment and Reform Initiative (RRI) is about tackling Northern Ireland's infrastructure deficit and improving and reforming public services. As part of the RRI, there is the power to access borrowing from the National Loans Fund (NLF). The Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) is the statutory body that facilitates all lending from the NLF and they publish the interest rates through their website on a daily basis (www.pwlb.gov.uk). The interest rate on any loan will be dictated by the prevailing rate at the time it is drawn down.
	It is not appropriate to consider PPP projects as borrowing by the public sector. Rather, the PPP approach allows additional resources to be levered in from the private sector sooner than is possible under conventional procurement, with additional benefits in terms of value for money and efficiency. While the cost of capital for the private sector may be higher than borrowing from Treasury, this is mitigated by other cost, risk and service advantages inherent in the approach. Value for money over the lifetime of the contract is the key concept.

Reform and Reinvestment Initiative

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether water charges are included for the purposes of determining convergence with local taxation in Great Britain under the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative.

Ian Pearson: Yes.

Reform of Public Administration

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on the review called Reform of Public Administration.

Paul Murphy: The Review of Public Administration (RPA) was initiated by the Northern Ireland Executive in June 2002. The original work programme for the review envisaged final decisions being taken by the Executive in December 2003. The suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly has, however, affected this timetable. The RPA has continued with its scheduled programme of engagement, research and study visits, but I decided earlier this year not to go out to public consultation in advance of the elections to the Assembly, then scheduled for 29 May 2003. I am currently examining the options for the future conduct of the Review and intend to make an announcement in the near future.

Strategic Investment Board

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who has been appointed to the Strategic Investment Board; and what the terms of their appointments are.

Paul Murphy: Five Directors have been appointed to the Strategic Investment Board. They are Mr. Tony Watson, Mr. James Stewart, Mr. Greg Sparks, Mr. Nigel Hamilton and Mr. Andy Carty. Mr. Watson has, additionally, been appointed as Chairman.
	The Directors have been appointed for a three-year period while the Chairman has been appointed for one year.

Website Access

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the actions he (a) has taken and (b) is taking to ensure that the websites of his Department, its Agencies and non-departmental public bodies are accessible to partially sighted and blind people; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments, together with their Agencies and NDPBs, have:
	(a) been following best practice as set down by the Office of the eEnvoy in the Cabinet Office, which requires adherence to international standards. These standards have ensured that pages on departmental websites can be read by 'screen reader' software, 'screen magnification' software or other assistive technologies which are commonly used by blind and partially sighted people; and
	(b) during the current year, the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) will condense available guidance into a practical guide for designers that will ensure even greater consistency of approach. This work will include consultation with recognised disability interest groups such as RNIB. The planned introduction of web content management software by Departments will facilitate the conversion of site content for specialist devices.

Unsolved Murders

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons lost their lives in conflict-related incidents in each year since 1973 and were the subject of a murder investigation conducted by the police; how many murders in each year were eventually the subject of a successful prosecution; and how many unsolved murders remain from each year.

Jane Kennedy: The information cannot be provided in the format requested. Table A provides the number of murders for each year since 1973 and the number of these murders where persons have subsequently been charged. Table B provides the number of convictions for murders in each year since 1993. We are unable to provide data prior to 1993 as to do so would require a substantial manual exercise and would incur a disproportionate cost.
	
		Table A: Security situation statistics for Northern Ireland, 19739 June 2003
		
			  Number of persons murdered Murders for which persons have been charged 
		
		
			 1973 200 65 
			 1974 187 76 
			 1975 221 101 
			 1976 266 107 
			 1977 100 47 
			 1978 70 30 
			 1979 108 38 
			 1980 65 25 
			 1981 83 35 
			 1982 85 39 
			 1983 67 29 
			 1984 49 10 
			 1985 48 20 
			 1986 55 7 
			 1987 82 20 
			 1988 84 30 
			 1989 57 20 
			 1990 68 19 
			 1991 88 27 
			 1992 79 23 
			 1993 82 35 
			 1994 61 18 
			 1995 9 2 
			 1996 14 5 
			 1997 20 9 
			 1998 54 11 
			 1999 7 2 
			 2000 18 3 
			 2001 16 4 
			 2002 12 1 
			 2003(1) 7 1 
			 Total 2,362 859 
		
	
	(1) To 9 June
	Note:
	Statistics for 2002 and 2003 are provisional and may be subject to minor adjustment.
	
		Table B: Victims of murders linked to the security situation: Number of instances where murder or other convictions have been secured by year of incident 19932002(2)
		
			  Number of victims where person(s) have been convicted of murder Person(s) have been convicted of lesser offence(3) 
		
		
			 1993 24 2 
			 1994 7 6 
			 1995 1 0 
			 1996(4) 0 2 
			 1997 4 0 
			 1998 6 1 
			 1999 0 1 
			 2000 1 3 
			 2001(5) 0 1 
			 2002 0 0 
			 Total 43 16 
		
	
	(2) Figures relate to cases where police have initially charged at least one suspect with murder. All cases have been heard in Belfast crown court in a Diplock trial.
	(3) For example, manslaughter, conspiracy to murder, aiding and abetting murder etc.
	(4) Suspect(s) have been committed for trial with respect to a further two victimscase pending.
	(5) Suspect(s) have been committed for trial with respect to a further victimcase pending

DEFENCE

Armed Forces Pension Scheme

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what differences there are between the death-in-service gratuities payable under the armed forces pension scheme and those payable in similar circumstances to members of the Brigade of Gurkhas; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The death-in-service gratuity paid under the armed forces pension scheme varies according to whether or not the death is considered attributable to, or aggravated by, service. If the death is considered non-attributable, a tax-free basic death-in-service lump sum is payable, this is approximately equivalent to the individual's representative annual rate of pay. If the death is considered attributable to service, in addition to the basic death-in-service lump sum, a tax-free attributable gratuity is also payable; this increases the overall rate of death-in-service benefit to between one and 1 times the individual's representative annual rate of pay.
	The pension and gratuity arrangements for Gurkha soldiers, which are different to those of the armed forces pension scheme, stem from the 1947 Tri-partite Agreement and are linked to Indian Army rates. An examination of these arrangements in 1999 resulted in substantially increased pension payments for all British Gurkha pensioners and enhanced gratuity provision in the event of death in service.
	Similar to the wider Army, the death-in-service gratuity payable to a Gurkha varies according to whether or not the death is considered attributable to, or aggravated by, service. If death-in-service is attributable then the Death-in-Service Gratuity payable to a Gurkha is the same as that paid to the equivalent rank in the wider British Army. If a death in service is not attributable, the normal provisions of the Gurkha pension and gratuities scheme apply, and the death element of the Death Cum-Retirement Gratuity is payable.

Armed Forces Pension Scheme

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the outcome of the reviews of the war pensions and armed forces pensions scheme.

Ivor Caplin: I expect to announce the outcome of the reviews of the armed forces pension and compensation arrangements before the summer recess.

Iraq

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military assets, including personnel, in Iraq are being applied to provide medical treatment for Iraqi civilians; and for how long they will remain in place.

Ivor Caplin: United Kingdom forces are required to provide, within their means and capabilities, medical treatment to Iraqi civilians. This ranges from emergency treatment conducted by any UK soldier, all of whom are trained in first aid, to more advanced emergency treatment at one of the four Regimental Aid Posts, to life saving surgery at the UK Field Hospital at Shaibah, southern Iraq. In addition, 1 Close Support Medical Regiment, consisting of approximately 250 personnel, is deployed across southern Iraq to provide an emergency first aid and ambulance capability.
	UK forces will provide medical treatment for as long as they remain in Iraq, although it is envisaged that reliance upon UK forces' medical capabilities will be reduced as Iraq's civilian medical infrastructure continues to improve.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what tonnage of unexploded ordnance used in the recent invasion of Iraq has been cleared up by UK-funded operations.

Adam Ingram: More than 87,000 items of unexploded ordnance and explosive ordnance and 79,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, mostly of Iraqi origin, were destroyed between the cessation of hostilities and 8 June 2003. We do not record the tonnage destroyed.

Iraq

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the capacity of British medical assets in Iraq to deal with the needs of the Iraqi people.

Ivor Caplin: The vast majority of injured Iraqis have been treated at Iraqi hospitals, and in the United Kingdom's area of operations we have made every effort to restore power, water and medical supplies to those facilities. All of the major hospitals in Baghdad and Basra are now functioning.
	However, where certain specialist skills have been required, Iraqis have been treated in UK medical facilities. In the very small number of cases where the necessary medical capabilities are not available in theatre, those Iraqis have been airlifted to UK hospitals for treatment. We will continue to provide medical treatment where possible for as long as UK forces remain in Iraq, although the requirement to do so will reduce over time as Iraq's civilian medical infrastructure continues to improve.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role DSACEUR will play in EU operations in the Congo region.

Adam Ingram: As envisaged at the Nice European Council in 2000, operational planning for EU-led operations without recourse to NATO assets and capabilities will be carried out within one of the strategic level headquarters available to the EU. As framework nation for the deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, France is providing the Operation Headquarters in Paris which will be augmented by officers from participating nations including from the United Kingdom. NATO will be kept informed of the general progress of the operation.

Consultants

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the (a) maximum and (b) average length of deployment is of TA consultants serving in the Defence Medical Service; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the (a) maximum and (b) average length of deployment is of consultants serving in the Defence Medical Service; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 12 June 2003
	Currently, we aim to deploy consultants in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) for no more than three months in any 12 month period. However, in some operational circumstances, this may not always be possible. In addition, under the terms of the Reserve Forces Act 1996, Reservists cannot be deployed for more than 12 months in any three years, unless they volunteer otherwise, and in the case of consultants their deployment patterns would be in line with that of their Regular counterparts.
	Information on the average length of deployment for consultants serving in the DMS is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Attachs

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 15 May 2003, Official Report, column 329W, on defence attachs, how many defence attachs are in place in each of the locations listed.

Ivor Caplin: A total of 128 UK defence attachs/advisers are currently deployed in 82 locations as follows:
	
		
			 Country City Number of attachs at post 
		
		
			 Albania Tirana 1 Army 
			 Angola Luanda 1 Army 
			 Argentina Buenos Aires 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Australia Canberra 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF) 
			 Austria Vienna 1 Army 
			 Bahrain Manama 1 RN 
			 Barbados Bridgetown 1 RN 
			 Belgium Brussels 1 RAF 
			 Brazil Brasilia 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan 1 RN 
			 Bulgaria Sofia 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Canada Ottawa 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Chile Santiago 1 Army 
			 China Beijing 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Colombia Bogota 1 Army 
			 Congo DRC Kinshasa 1 Army 
			 Croatia Zagreb 1 Army 
			 Cyprus Nicosia 1 Army 
			 Czech Republic Prague 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Denmark Copenhagen 1 RN 
			 Egypt Cairo 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Ethiopia Addis Ababa 1 Army 
			 Finland Helsinki 1 Army 
			 France Paris 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Georgia Tbilisi 1 RAF 
			 Germany Berlin 4 (1 RN, 2 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Ghana Accra 1 Army 
			 Greece Athens 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Guatemala Guatemala City 1 Army 
			 Hungary Budapest 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 India New Delhi 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Indonesia Jakarta 1 Army 
			 Ireland Dublin 1 Army 
			 Israel Tel Aviv 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Italy Rome 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Jamaica Kingston 1 Army 
			 Japan Toky 1 RN 
			 Jordan Amman 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Kazakhstan Almaty 1 Army 
			 Kenya Nairobi 1 Army 
			 Korea Seoul 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Kuwait Kuwait City 1 Army 
			 Latvia Riga 1 Army 
			 Lebanon Beirut 1 Army 
			 Lithuania Vilnius 1 Army 
			 Macedonia Skopje 1 Army 
			 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Morocco Rabat 1 Army 
			 Nepal Kathmandu 1 Army 
			 Netherlands The Hague 1 RN 
			 New Zealand Wellington 1 Army 
			 Nigeria Abuja 1 Army 
			 Norway Oslo 1 Army 
			 Oman Muscat 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Pakistan Islamabad 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 Philippines Manila 1 Army 
			 Poland Warsaw 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Portugal Lisbon 1 RN 
			 Qatar Doha 1 RAF 
			 Romania Bucharest 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Russia Moscow 6 (2 RN, 2 Army, 2 RAF) 
			 Saudi Arabia Riyadh 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Serbia and Montenegro Belgrade 1 Army 
			 Sierra Leone Freetown 1 Army 
			 Singapore Singapore 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF) 
			 Slovak Republic Bratislava 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Slovenia Ljubljana 1 Army 
			 South Africa Pretoria 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Spain Madrid 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF) 
			 Sri Lanka Colombo 1 Army 
			 Sweden Stockholm 1 RAF 
			 Switzerland Berne 1 Army 
			 Syria Damascus 1 Army 
			 Thailand Bangkok 1 Army 
			 Turkey Ankara 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF) 
			 Uganda Kampala 1 Army 
			 Ukraine Kyiv 2 (1 RN, 1 Army) 
			 United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 1 Army 
			 USA Washington 8 (3 RN, 3 Army, 2 RAF) 
			 Uzbekistan Tashkent 1 Army 
			 Venezuela Caracas 1 RN 
			 Zimbabwe Harare 1 Army 
		
	
	There are a total of four officers (two RN, two RAF) employed in Canada, Russia, India and USA as office managers; these are not accredited diplomatic posts.

Executive Agencies

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work for the Hydrographic Office; how many are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of the agency are; and how these figures compare to 2002.

Ivor Caplin: The average number of staff employed by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office during the Financial Year ended 31 March 2003 was 940 compared with 907 in the previous year. The numbers include permanent and temporary staff and Service personnel. There are four staff employed at the Chart Maintenance Unit, Faslane, this is unchanged from 2002. The increase in numbers during the year ended 31 March 2003 primarily reflects the recruitment of additional trainee chart compilation personnel in anticipation of the future retirement of significant numbers of experienced staff.
	The personnel costs of the agency were 28.2 million during the Financial Year ended 31 March 2003 and 26.7 million in the previous year.

Executive Agencies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who the top level budget holder owner has been of each of his Department's agencies since financial year 199798.

Adam Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Executive Agencies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time equivalent (a) military and (b) civilian staff were employed in the (i) Defence Analytical Services Agency in financial years 199798 to 200102, (ii) Defence Bills Agency in financial years 199798 to 200102, (iii) Defence Dental Agency in financial year 199798, (iv) Defence Vetting Agency in financial years 199798 to 200102, (v) Pay and Personnel Agency in financial years 199798 to 200102 and (vi) Queen Victoria School in financial years 199798 to 200102.

Ivor Caplin: The requested information is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  1 April 1997 1 April 1998 1 April 1999 
			 Defence agency Service Civilian Service Civilian Service Civilian 
		
		
			 Defence Analytical Services Agency * 115 * 117 * 103 
			 Defence Bills Agency * 654 * 677 * 640 
			 Defence Dental Agency 629 111 688 135 715 151 
			 Defence Vetting Agency * 54 * 341 * 338 
			 Pay and Personnel Agency * 898 * 850 * 675 
			 Queen Victoria School * 69 * 68 * 68 
			 Grand total 629 1,901 688 2,188 715 1,975 
		
	
	
		
			  1 April 2000 1 April 2001 1 April 2002 
			 Defence agency Service Civilian Service Civilian Service Civilian 
		
		
			 Defence Analytical Services Agency * 120 * 129 * 145 
			 Defence Bills Agency * 601 * 585 * 581 
			 Defence Dental Agency 746 171 * 158 
			 Defence Vetting Agency * 355 * 344 * 262 
			 Pay and Personnel Agency * 628 * 647 * 665 
			 Queen Victoria School * 69 * 71 * 70 
			 Grand total 746 1,944 * 1,776 * 1,881 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Civilian figures are in respect of permanent full and part-time staff, i.e. casual staff are excluded.
	2. Civilian figures include values for part-time staff proportionate to those of full-time staff.
	3. Service personnel figures are for UK Regular Forces and include both trained and untrained personnel. They exclude Gurkhas, full-time Reserve Service personnel, The Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reservists are Naval Activated Reservists.
	4. Figures are individually rounded and may not sum precisely to the totals shown.
	5. * not applicable.6.   not available.

Fylingdales

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether anti-ballistic missiles will be located in the UK once the Fylingdales radar base has been upgraded.

Geoff Hoon: The upgrade of the radar at RAF Fylingdales does not of itself commit the United Kingdom Government to the acquisition or deployment of a missile defence system, and no such decision has been taken. The United States has not made any request to site interceptor missiles in the UK as part of its missile defence system.

Fylingdales

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of upgrading the Fylingdales radar base will be; and what contribution to the upgrade the UK will be required to make.

Geoff Hoon: The cost of the upgrade, including the installation of new equipment, will be met by the United States. The United Kingdom will continue to operate and support the radar. The upgrade is expected to have a minimal effect on these running costs, which are of the order of 20 million per annum.

Gurkhas

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library (a) background papers, interim reports and the final report from the 1997 and 1999 Ministry of Defence reviews of the terms and conditions of service for Gurkhas, on pay and pensions, and (b) the Gurkha Pay and Pensions Manual.

Ivor Caplin: I will write to my hon. Friend in due course and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Nuclear Weapons

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to resume nuclear testing (a) to measure nuclear warhead stockpile stability and (b) to produce new design of nuclear weapons.

Ivor Caplin: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the armed forces on 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 917W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson).

Official Spelling

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy that all official (a) correspondence, (b) reports and (c) documentation from his office uses the English spelling of words where this differs from the US version.

Ivor Caplin: The Ministry of Defence adheres to the guidance produced by the Cabinet Office on the handling of ministerial and other correspondence which emphasises that appropriate arrangements should be in place to ensure that the quality of all replies is high. Similarly, we subscribe to the Cabinet Office guidance on plain written English. Departmental publications are prepared in line with the Guidance on the Work of the Government Information and Communication Service.
	The MOD supports and promotes the principles of plain English. We have in recent years won six awards for examples of good, clear written work in the Plain English Campaign's annual Government-wide Inside Write competition, claiming prizes in each of the last four competitions.

Service Manning

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the critical manning groups which have been identified in (a) the Army and (b) the RAF; and what the shortfall against requirement was in each case.

Ivor Caplin: The critical manning groups identified in the Army and the RAF are shown in the following tables:
	
		Army (as at 1 May 2003)
		
			 Soldier Arm/Service Trained Strength Liability Shortfall Shortfall (percentage) 
		
		
			 Royal Corps of Signals 7,601 7,805 -204 -2.6 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 13,184 14,711 -1,527 -10.4 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 1,810 1,999 -189 -9.5 
			 Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 8,751 9,850 -1,099 -11.2 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 445 651 -206 -31.6 
		
	
	Note:
	Army figures are for Soldiers.
	
		RAF (as at 1 May 2003)
		
			 Branch/Trade Trained Strength Requirement Shortfall Shortfall (percentage) 
		
		
			 Aircrew Officers 
			 JO (Weapons Systems Officer) 660 733 -73 -10 
			 Non-commissioned Aircrew  
			 Weapons Systems Operator (Air Electronics) 430 476 -46 -10 
			 Weapon System Operator (Linguist) 39 58 -19 -33 
			 Ground Branch officers 
			 Medical Officers 187 266 -79 -30 
			 Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Sendee 117 142 -25 -18 
			 Electrical Trades 
			 Gen Tech E 578 661 -83 -13 
			 Medical Trades 
			 Nurses 270 308 -38 -12 
			 Technicians 113 129 -16 -12 
			  
			 Motor Transport (MT) Driver 1,171 1,300 -129 -10 
			 MT Technician/Mechanic 394 478 -84 -18 
			  
			 Medical Assistant 288 350 -62 -18 
			  
			 Chef 645 731 -86 -12 
		
	
	Note:
	For the RAF critical has been defined as a deficit of 10 per cent. or more.

US Bases (Protesters)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what rules of engagement apply to (a) the American National Guard and (b) the US security police personnel concerning protesters found on bases in the UK.

Adam Ingram: It is not our practice to comment on Rules of Engagement and that information is withheld under Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who owns Clarence House.

Estelle Morris: Clarence House, as part of St James' Palace, is held by the Queen as sovereign on behalf of the nation.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams) of 16 December 2003, Official Report, column 531W, if she will list the redecoration and refurbishment work at Clarence House, including amounts paid for materials and labour.

Estelle Morris: Clarence House has not been subject to substantial refurbishment for 55 years, with most of the expenditure on the residential and office areas being required irrespective of who occupies it.
	A works total of 3.2 million excluding VAT is being spent from the grant-in-aid on the redecoration and refurbishment works at Clarence House. These include:
	
		
			 Work carried out Total cost ( thousand) 
		
		
			 General builders work 445 
			 Mechanical services and plumbing 428 
			 Electrical services 410 
			 Internal decoration 373 
			 Specialist finished 250 
			 Fire protection 150 
			 Asbestos removal 110 
			 Catering equipment 96 
			 ScaffoldingInternal and external 85 
			 Carpentry 80 
			 Service lift and shaft 72 
			 Removal of redundant services 64 
			 External decoration 60 
			 Window refurbishment 54 
			 Cleaning and repairs 24 
			 Structural steelwork 19 
			 Replacement of roof lights 13 
			 Total of redecoration and refurbishment works 2,733 
			 Construction manager's fees, services and site facilities relating to this work 512 
			 Total 3,245

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams) of 16 December 2003, Official Report, column 531W, if she will list the items to be moved as part of the spending allocated to Clarence House for removing, storing and reinstating contents.

Estelle Morris: The entire contents of Clarence House were removed by 19 removal lorries so that building works could take place. The items removed comprised domestic furniture, paintings, drawings and china.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who authorised the refurbishment and redecoration works at Clarence House, and on what date.

Estelle Morris: The refurbishment of Clarence House has been included for some years in the royal household's five-year maintenance plan approved by the Department. The royal household continues to keep the Department informed regularly of the cost and progress of the refurbishment.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with whom the contents of Clarence House are insured; how much this costs per annum; and whether the cost is met by the civil list.

Estelle Morris: The Royal Collection insures the items that it owns against damage but not loss. None of the insurance costs for Clarence House were met from the Civil List.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the inhabitants of Clarence House in each year from 1997 to date.

Estelle Morris: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and a number of her personal staff lived in Clarence House between 1997 and Easter 2002. Much of it was used as offices for HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's household. Since that date the House has been unoccupied.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what has been the total rental income received from inhabitants of Clarence House from 1997 to date.

Estelle Morris: There has been no rental income received from inhabitants of Clarence House.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the sums allocated to professional fees in respect of refurbishment and redecoration of Clarence House have been placed following a process of competitive tendering.

Estelle Morris: All professional fees over 5,000 in respect of refurbishment and redecoration of Clarence House, which were paid for out of Grant-in-aid, were tendered competitively.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who decides the annual allocation of funds provided through the grant-in-aid.

Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State decides on the level of grant-in-aid for the Occupied Royal Palaces as part of the regular spending reviews. Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) are responsible for the maintenance of the Unoccupied Royal Palaces. The HRP receive no grant-in-aid.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual sum provided to the grant-in-aid has been in each year from 1979 to date.

Estelle Morris: Grant-in-aid has been paid since 1991 when the Royal Household took over day-to-day responsibility for property services for the occupied royal palaces in England. The figures are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Annual amount ( thousand) 
		
		
			 199192 23,936 
			 199293 23,159 
			 199394 19,805 
			 199495 20,541 
			 199596 20,440 
			 199697 19,609 
			 199798 16,409 
			 199899 15,809 
			 19992000 15,125 
			 200001 15,000 
			 200102 15,500 
			 200203 15,400 
		
	
	200102 and 200203 include temporary funding of 500,000 and 400,000 respectively to enable the grant-in-aid to take over financial responsibility for the Court post office's postal and telegraph services.

Royal Residences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps are in place to ensure moneys allocated to grant-in-aid are spent in an environmentally responsible manner.

Estelle Morris: The Royal Households, including representatives from The Prince of Wales' and The Duke of Edinburgh's Offices, are members of a working group with representatives from environmental organisations including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, World Wildlife Fund and Forest Stewardship Council. The group looks at the way the Palaces can be more environmentally friendly, and at the Household's environmental policy to promote sustainability, and ensures that appropriate guidance is obtained and followed.
	The Royal Household has a policy of using timber from renewable sources for construction work. Other environmentally friendly activities include the construction of combined heat and power units at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle and a borehole for chilling the air-conditioning at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

Community Sports Coaches

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many community sports coaches will be created under the Community Sports Coaches Scheme in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006.

Richard Caborn: I expect the first phase of some 100 community sports coaches to be operational during the current financial year. Decisions on future phases will be made in the light of that experience. We remain committed to creating 3,000 community sports coaches to help develop sports skills across the country by 2006.

National Lottery

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the statement by the Minister for Sport on 28 February 2003, Official Report, column 543, when the regulatory impact assessment was (a) prepared and (b) placed in the Library.

Richard Caborn: DCMS prepared a Regulatory Impact Assessment on the National Lottery (Funding of Endowments) Private Member's Bill when it was first tabled. I said at the time of the Bill's Second Reading on 28 February 2003 that copies would be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, and this has now been done.

National Lottery

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the statement on 28 February 2003 by the Minister for Sport, Official Report, column 542, if she will make available in the Library before 20 June 2003 a draft of the guidance to distributors on grants to endowment funds.

Richard Caborn: I announced on 28 February 2003 that, should the National Lottery (Funding of Endowments) Bill succeed, this Department would issue guidance to distributors on this matter, and that a draft of the guidance would be made available to Peers during the Lords stages of the Bill. The guidance is currently in the process of drafting, and we will want to consult distributors before finalising the text and making it available for parliamentary scrutiny.

Sport England

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's annual funding allocation to Sport England for (a) 200203, (b) 200304, (c) 200405 and (d) 200506.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 17 June 2003
	The Department of Culture, Media and Sport funding allocation to Sport England is shown in the following table:
	
		Funding allocation to Sport England
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200203 (6)81,275 
			 200304 (7)62,595 
			 200405 (7)65,775 
			 200506 (7)65,775 
		
	
	(6) Final provision.
	(7) Plans.
	The allocation in 200203 includes 28 million funding to support the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Sport England

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) actual and (b) projected Sport England staff numbers are for (i) 200203, (ii) 200304 and (iii) 200405.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 17 June 2003
	Sport England's actual and projected staff numbers are:
	1 April 2002498 (actual)
	1 April 2003418 (actual)
	1 April 2004240 (projected).

Sustainable Tourism

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what initiatives her Department is taking to promote sustainable tourism in rural areas.

Richard Caborn: This Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have a shared interest in promoting sustainable tourism in rural areas. Accordingly, we work closely to shape policy and develop initiatives for action. In creating VisitBritain, my Department took over the former English Tourism Council's responsibilities for promoting rural and sustainable tourism policy.
	As part of the Government's programme of tourism reform, the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are, from April 2003, playing a stronger part in the strategic leadership of tourism, with the Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs) as their natural delivery partners. Guidance has been issued to the RDAs on how tourism should be covered in their Corporate Plans and Regional Economic Strategies, including the development of Regional Sustainable Tourism Strategies in partnership with RTBs, and sub-regional and local tourism organisations. Advantage West Midlands (RDA) will lead this process in the West Midlands, taking into account the tourism potential of rural areas, and in 200304, will receive 252,000 to pass on to the Visit Heart of England Tourist Board, subject to agreed targets and objectives.
	VisitBritain's current domestic marketing campaign, Enjoy England, will benefit rural tourism businesses that depend largely on domestic tourism.
	The Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES), part of Defra's England Rural Development Programme, provides project-based support for diversifying the rural economy. The total RES budget is 152 million (50 per cent. co-financed by EU CAP Pillar 2 money) from 2000 to 2006. Tourism and leisure projects fall under
	'encouragement for tourist and craft activities' and 'farm diversification'. Currently these measures have 55 million allocated, of which 12 million has been spent so far.
	Defra is promoting countryside recreation through the new statutory right of access to open countryside. The Countryside Agency is taking forward several relevant projects, such as: integrated quality management of rural tourist destinations; retaining visitor expenditure in rural areas; promoting environmentally responsible tourism businesses; promoting local produce with the Youth Hostels Association.
	Government support is not limited to direct funding for tourism. This Department alone spends some 1 billion per year, for example, on the arts, the historic environment, museums and galleries, much of which directly benefits rural tourism across the country.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bushmeat

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to control the trade in bushmeat.

Elliot Morley: The trade in bushmeat in this country is controlled mainly through domestic legislation designed to protect animal and human health, although some species traded as bushmeat are also regulated under EU legislation implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Illegal imports of bushmeat are being tackled under the illegal imports Action Plan.

Common Agricultural Policy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the European Commission's proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Elliot Morley: The UK Government have strongly supported the aims of the European Commission's proposals on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently heavily engaged in trying to secure a deal which will benefit farmers, consumers, the environment, developing countries and world trade.

Common Agricultural Policy

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the likely impact of the current Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals on the number of agricultural jobs in the UK.

Ben Bradshaw: The European Commission's CAP reform proposals to break the link between subsidies and production would enable producers to respond more directly to market signals. This may reduce employment in direct agricultural production, while creating new opportunities from diversified land uses. We estimate that the economic benefits from such restructuring could be worth Euro400 million per year in the UK.

Common Agricultural Policy

Ian Cawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the delegations which Ministers have met to discuss support for farmers of unsupported crops prior to the forthcoming CAP mid-term review.

Ben Bradshaw: My noble Friend Lord Whitty has had regular discussions on all aspects of the CAP reform proposals with a Contact Group comprising:
	British Retail Consortium;
	Country Land and Business Association;
	Countryside Agency;
	Countryside Alliance;
	English Nature;
	Environment Agency;
	Farm Animal Welfare Council;
	Farmcare;
	Food and Drink Federation;
	Home Grown Cereals Authority;
	Institute of Grocery Distribution;
	Meat and Livestock Commission;
	National Consumer Council;
	National Farmers Union;
	National Trust;
	OXFAM;
	Rural Development Agencies;
	Royal Society for the Protection of Birds;
	Soil Association;
	Sustainable Development Commission;
	Tenant Farmers Association;
	Trade Union Congress; and
	Wildlife and Countryside Link.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also discussed the proposals with a number of bodies represented on the Contact Group. In addition, officials have had a number of meetings with those specifically representing unsupported sector interests, including the Processed Vegetable Growers Association and the Blackcurrant Growers Association.

Common Agricultural Policy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect on family outgoings of (a) farm subsidies, (b) the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy upon food costs and (c) other rural subsidies.

Ben Bradshaw: Farm subsidies paid through the EU budget represent 45 per week for a family of four and the Common Agricultural Policy is estimated to add 56 per week to family food costs.
	Rural areas will benefit from many of the nationally available subsidies.

Fly-tipping

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her policy to combat fly-tipping.

Elliot Morley: The Government are committed to dealing with the serious and growing problem of fly-tipping.
	The Anti-social Behaviour Bill, currently before Parliament, includes measures that will help the Environment Agency and local authorities to trace and prosecute those responsible for fly-tipping.
	The Government are also considering other measures, details of which will be published later in 2003 and brought forward at the next legislative opportunity.

GM Crops

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the progress of the GM Public Debate.

Elliot Morley: The debate has already been a success in terms of generating discussion about GM. The initial regional launch events were well attended and further public meetings are now being organised. People can also participate via the debate website.

Waste Strategy

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are planned (a) to discourage incineration of waste and (b) to encourage maximum recycling and recover.

Elliot Morley: The Government's Waste Strategy 2000 set national targets for the recycling or composting of at least 25 per cent. of household waste by 2005, 30 per cent. by 2010 and 33 per cent. by 2015. To underpin these national targets we have set challenging statutory recycling and composting targets for all local authorities in England.
	We encourage recycling above incineration, but incineration with energy recovery is more sustainable than landfill. We have no plans at present to discourage the use of this option, albeit that it is one option of waste management.

Bridleways

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received regarding the use of bridleways by (a) motorcycles and (b) four-wheel drive vehicles.

Alun Michael: I have received considerable representation about damage and nuisance from motorcycles and from four-wheel drive vehicles in a number of locations, but these have not been specific to bridleways. Many of the representations have focused on the damage done for instance on the Ridgeway or within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Agricultural Shows

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the agricultural shows which will be attended by Ministers this season; and if she will make a statement on her policy with regard to ministerial visits to shows.

Alun Michael: A provisional list of the agricultural shows which Ministers hope to attend this season is given in the table. Attendance can be affected by a variety of factors including business in the House.
	The Secretary of State and Ministers appreciate the value of attending agricultural shows and visit as many shows as their diaries allow. As it is not possible to visit all shows seeking ministerial support a rolling programme is adopted to ensure all regions of the country are visited each year.
	
		
			 Name Event 
		
		
			 Secretary of State  
			 Lord Whitty Royal Show 
			  Devon County Show 
			  Royal Cornwall Show 
			  East of England Show 
			  Royal Show 
			  Royal Lancashire Show 
			  Dairy Event 
			   
			 Mr. Morley Royal Show 
			  Great Yorkshire Show 
			  CLA Game Fair 
			   
			 Mr. Michael Royal Show 
			  New Forest  Hants County Show 
			  Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead 
			  British Equine Event, Stoneleigh 
			   
			 Mr. Bradshaw Royal Show

Agricultural Subsidies

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to abolish export subsidies for agricultural produce.

Ben Bradshaw: The World Trade Organisation Doha Declaration commits all member countries to negotiations aimed at reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies. The Government fully support this commitment.

Foodstuffs

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent by British consumers on foodstuffs in each of the last ten years, broken down by type of foodstuff.

Ben Bradshaw: Estimates of the amounts spent by consumers in the UK are provided by the Office for National Statistics. A table showing consumer expenditure estimates broken by type of foodstuff is as follows.
	
		Consumer expenditure estimates of foodstuffs, 19922003 -- Units:  billion
		
			  Total food and non-alcoholic beverages (household expenditure) Bread and cereals Meat Fish Milk, cheese and eggs Oils and fats 
		
		
			 1992 45.7 6.6 10.0 1.7 6.2 1.1 
			 1993 47.2 6.7 10.7 1.7 6.4 1.1 
			 1994 47.9 6.7 10.5 1.7 6.5 1.1 
			 1995 49.8 7.0 10.7 1.8 6.7 1.1 
			 1996 53.0 7.5 11.6 2.0 6.9 1.2 
			 1997 53.8 7.7 11.8 1.9 6.9 1.2 
			 1998 55.2 7.9 11.7 2.0 7.0 1.2 
			 1999 56.6 8.0 11.9 2.1 7.2 1.2 
			 2000 57.7 8.1 12.3 2.2 7.5 1.2 
			 2001 60.3 9.0 12.2 2.3 7.7 1.2 
			 2002 61.7 9.4 12.6 2.4 7.6 1.1 
		
	
	
		Consumer expenditure estimates of foodstuffs, 19922002 -- Units:  billion
		
			  Fruit Vegetables Sugar and sweet products Food products n.e.c. Coffee, tea arid cocoa Mineral water and soft drinks 
		
		
			 1992 2.9 6.1 5.1 1.1 1.5 3.5 
			 1993 2.9 6,2 5.3 1.1 1.5 3.6 
			 1994 3.0 6.5 5.5 1.1 1.5 3.7 
			 1995 3.1 7.2 5.6 1.1 1.5 3.9 
			 1996 3.3 7.7 5.9 1.2 1.6 4.1 
			 1997 3.6 7.6 6.1 1.3 1.6 4.3 
			 1998 3.8 7.9 6.4 1.3 1.6 4.4 
			 1999 3.9 8.2 6.5 1.3 1.7 4.6 
			 2000 3.9 8.2 6.4 1.3 1.7 4.9 
			 2001 4.0 8.5 6.5 1.4 1.9 5,7 
			 2002 4.3 8.4 6.6 1.4 1.8 6.1 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National StatisticsConsumer Trends

IACS Payments

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people in (a) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire are awaiting IACS payments; and what the average waiting time for payment was in the last year for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: Data are not held at constituency level so there is no specific information available for the Bury St. Edmunds constituency. However, there are currently no payments outstanding for Suffolk, there are also no payments outstanding for Cambridgeshire. There is one payment outstanding in Norfolk and one in Essex under the 2002 Arable Area Payments Scheme (AAPS), both for reasons beyond the RPA's control. For 2002 main AAPS payments, the regulatory payment window ran from 16 November 2002 to 31 January 2003. 85.88 per cent. of claims by number were paid by 8 December 2002, and 98.25 per cent. by 31 January 2003.

Race Relations

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in her Department and non-departmental public bodies on implementing the requirements of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000; and if she will publish the results of the monitoring required by the Act.

Alun Michael: One of the key values of the Department is to treat everyone fairly and to encourage, value and recognise everyone's views and contributions. This applies to the public and our external customers as well as to our staff.
	Defra's draft Race Equality Scheme, published last year, covered core Defra and the two smallest Agencies, the Pesticides Safety Directorate and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. The remaining four Defra Agencies (the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research, the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Rural Payments Agency) have each produced specific schemes and associated action plans.
	The draft Defra Scheme was the subject of a public consultation exercise in the autumn last year and has been revised in the light of comments received. A revised Race Equality Scheme will be published in the summer together with a report on progress of action, including the results of monitoring.
	The Departments non-departmental public bodies are expected to follow the lead of the core Department. I will write to my hon. Friend separately to provide information on the action that they are taking to respond to the general duty.

Sustainable Development

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what remit relating to sustainable development is required by her Department's (a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies.

Elliot Morley: Central Departments and their Executive Agencies are covered by the 'Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate' and the targets it contains. Departments are responsible for encouraging and developing the integration of SD into the policy and operations of their associate bodies, ie executive agencies, advisory non-departmental bodies, executive non-departmental bodies, tribunals, public corporations and other bodies.
	In the Greening Government 1st Annual Report (1999) a commitment was made to have the Cabinet Office NDPB guidance revised to include the requirement for departments to encompass SD into the remit of any new NDPBs they set up. This was done and reported in the Greening Government 2nd Annual Report (2000). A number of associate bodies set up before this requirement was put in place already made explicit reference to the pursuit of sustainable development in their aims/objectives or remits, an example of which is the Environment Agency.
	The Defra publication 'Our Strategy 200306' contains a commitment to improve the consistency with which all organisations linked to Defra focus on sustainable development objectives. This will be taken forward as part of the review of Defra's Sustainable Development Strategy, 'Foundations for Our Future', due to be undertaken this summer.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Broadband

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had on introducing broadband to schools on Exmoor in Somerset to comply with the Government's aim of all schools having broadband by 2005.

Charles Clarke: The Prime Minister has set a target for all schools to be connected to broadband by 2006. The Department for Education and Skills is working with the Regional Broadband Consortia, LEAs and schools to ensure this target is achieved. The Department has also had a range of discussions with a number of partners including telecoms companies and other Government Departments to identify cost-effective ways of providing broadband access for schools, regardless of geographic location.
	The Department has not had discussions regarding broadband for schools on Exmoor specifically; rather, discussions have focused on ensuring all schools in the region will be effectively connected by 2006.

Bullying

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what measures are in place (a) to prevent bullying in schools and (b) to punish those found to be harassing their peers;
	(2)  what proposals he has to protect pupils found to be victims of bullying in schools; and if he will make a statement on how bullying can affect children;
	(3)  what guidance he gives on when schools should consider police intervention in a case of bullying; and in what circumstances pupils may be expelled for bullying;
	(4)  if he will make a statement on the protection of children from bullying while in school; and whether it is his policy that (a) victims and (b) the offender should be removed from the school.

Ivan Lewis: Bullying is a serious problem that affects pupils' educational achievement and emotional well-being. All schools in England must treat the problem seriously, and are required to draw up written measures, which must be fully implemented, to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.
	We have made available to schools a free information pack and video entitled Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence, which provides examples of good practice in preventing bullying. There is also a dedicated website at www.dfes.qov.uk/bullying, which offers help to pupils, parents and teachers and contains links to other websites. Anti-bullying work is part of our Behaviour and Attendance strategy and from this September it will feature within the new behaviour and attendance audits and training, which are being introduced into secondary schools as part of the Key Stage 3 strategy.
	Schools need to have a range of measures in place to protect their pupilsincluding pupils who have been bullied previouslyfrom bullying. These are likely to include proper supervision during the school day and encouraging a culture of openness so that bullying cannot flourish unseen. Schools should do all they can to ensure that pupils do not feel they need to change school because of bullying. As far as the bullies are concerned, we have made it clear that, where necessary, those responsible for serious or prolonged bullyingincluding cases of violence, sexual assault or inciting racial harassmentcan be permanently excluded.
	We have published guidance on the circumstances in which the police should be involved in cases of bullying in school. We encourage all schools to have effective links with the local police. The Safer School Partnerships established within our wider Behaviour and Attendance strategy, whereby police officers are based in some schools, will also help to prevent and deal with bullying.

Criminal Records Checks

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many enhanced checks (a) have been carried out and (b) remain to be carried out in the academic year 200203 by the Criminal Records Bureau on (i) teaching staff, (ii) non-teaching school staff, (iii) governors and (iv) parent volunteers; and how many checks will be carried out on each category;
	(2)  how many school-related local authority staff (a) have been checked and (b) remain in need of checking by the Criminal Records Bureau in the academic year 200203.

David Miliband: My Department does not hold this information.

Eco-schools

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what arrangements his Department has for the dissemination of educational information regarding environmental matters by way of the network of eco-schools in England;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the contribution made by the eco-schools programme to the delivery of the citizenship curriculum.

Charles Clarke: We have no plans for utilising the network of Eco-Schools (run by EnCams Limited) as a dissemination mechanism for environmental education. The citizenship curriculum is deliberately flexible, allowing teachers to choose the delivery methods best suited to their pupil's needs and interests. The Eco-Schools programme is one of a number of methods schools employ to deliver citizenship.

Education Support Staff

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education support staff have been employed in each year since 1997; and what duties they carried out.

David Miliband: Information on the number of support staff is shown in the table. The deployment of support staff is a matter for individual schools. No information on this deployment is available centrally.
	
		Support staff in maintained nursery, primary, middle and secondary schools, special schools(8)and pupil referral units in EnglandFull-time equivalents January of each year -- Thousands
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003(9) 
		
		
			 Teaching assistants(10)
			 Teaching assistants 35.5 38.8 39.3 45.3 55.6 57.3 73.1 
			 Special needs support staff 24.5 26.0 29.5 32.4 37.7 46.7 46.8 
			 Minority ethnic pupil support staff 1.2 1.5 1.5 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.5 
			 Total 61.3 66.3 70.3 79.8 95.8 106.4 122.3 
			 Administrative staff
			 Secretaries 27.6 28.5 29.1 30.2 30.6 25.6 24.7 
			 Bursars 4.1 4.2 4.4 4.7 5.0 4.9 5.1 
			 Other admin/clerical staff 7.5 7.3 7.7 8.3 10.7 19.3 20.8 
			 Total 39.2 40.1 41.2 43.2 46.3 49.8 50.6 
			 Technicians
			 Total 12.7 13.1 13.5 14.2 15.0 16.6 18.0 
			 Other support staff
			 Matrons/nurses/medical staff(11) 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.8 1.7 
			 Child care staff (boarding schools)(12) 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.3 3.2 3.2 0.4 
			 Other(13) 18.7 19.7 22.1 23.1 27.4 39.3 32.3 
			 Total 23.3 24.4 26.5 27.5 31.8 44.2 34.4 
			 Total support staff 136.5 143.8 151.5 164.7 189.0 217.0 225.3 
			 (Total excluding nursery schools) 134.1 141.5 149.0 162.1 186.3 214.2 222.4 
		
	
	(8) Includes non-maintained special (and special and general hospital schools).
	(9) Provisional.
	(10) Includes nursery assistants in nursery schools.
	(11) Included with 'other' in nursery schools.
	(12) Due to a reporting problem at source, the number of child care staff has not been recorded accurately by schools, resulting in child care staff being distributed across other support staff categories.
	(13) Includes: librarians, welfare assistants, learning mentors and any other support staff regularly employed in schools; matrons, nurses, other medical staff in nursery schools.
	Source:
	Annual School Census

Efficiency Savings

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the target is for efficiency savings in 200304 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit.

Charles Clarke: My Department does not have a target in the terms expressed. The Department has value for money targets arising from the Government's spending reviews in 2000 and 2002 (SR2000  SR2002). Following SR2000, schools can now meaningfully compare costs with one another and thus improve value for money year on year. We established a framework of Consistent Financial Reporting requiring all maintained schools to report their accounts in a standardised way, which has been operational since 1 April 2003. Following SR 2002, the Department is developing a challenging target covering minimum performance and value for money in FE colleges and other post-16 providers.

Excluded Children

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much it cost to educate excluded children through (a) pupil referral units, (b) home tuition, (c) emotional and behavioural disorder day units, (d) emotional and behavioural disorder residential units and (e) other provision for excluded children in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 3 June 2003
	The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Free School Meals

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what change there has been an increase in applications for free school meals since the introduction of new rules in April.

David Miliband: The information requested is not currently available. The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is collected in January each year via the Annual Schools' Census. As a result, trend data on the number of pupils known to be eligible for free meals since the introduction of new rules in April 2003 will not be available until 2004.

Hayfever

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he has issued to examining boards on the account which should be taken of the effects of hayfever on the performance of children taking public examinations.

Ivan Lewis: Arrangements for candidates affected by personal illness are set out in The Joint Council for General Qualifications (JCGQ) document, Regulations and Guidance for Candidates with Particular Requirements.
	Examination centres may request special consideration from awarding bodies for candidates affected by chronic hayfever during an exam where exam centres are able to provide evidence that the candidate was affected at the time of the examination.

Modern Apprenticeships

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the 10 largest providers of Modern Apprenticeships were in 200203; how many contracted places there were with each of those providers; and what the individual success rates were of each of those providers, expressed as (a) the proportion of NVQs successfully passed out of those taken and (b) the proportion of Modern Apprenticeships successfully gained out of those started.

Ivan Lewis: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and will place a copy of his reply in the Library.

Modern Apprenticeships

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the full achievement rates for Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks for 200203 will be issued; and how those rates will be made available.

Ivan Lewis: Data on Modern Apprenticeships are published by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in Statistical First Releases (SFR). The next SFR is due to be published on 24 July 2003. Current plans are that this SFR will contain Modern Apprenticeship framework completion and NVQ achievement rates for the period August 2001 to July 2002. An early indication of figures for the period August 2002 to January 2003 is also planned. Framework completion and NVQ achievement rates for the whole period from August 2002 to July 2003 will not be available until December 2003.

Pay Audits

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made on completing a pay audit in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies to measure any disadvantage in terms of remuneration for (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) people with disabilities; and if he will publish the results of such an audit.

Charles Clarke: My Department has submitted a report on Gender Pay Equality (including an action plan) to the Cabinet Office. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House, when discussions with Cabinet Office are concluded. Non-departmental public bodies were not required to submit an equal pay report to Cabinet Office, although many have conducted a similar audit, as best practice. It has not been possible to provide the requested information for my Department's non-departmental public bodies without incurring disproportionate cost.
	A further pay equality review, covering not only gender but also ethnicity and people with disabilities, will begin in my Department when this year's pay award has been delivered, towards the end of this year. The results will be made available on completion of the exercise.

Prison Education

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff have been employed in Prison Education in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) teaching staff and (b) non-teaching staff.

Ivan Lewis: There are currently around 1,600 full- and part-time teaching staff employed in delivering education in Her Majesty's Prison Service through the education contract. This includes around 220 Learning Support Assistants, who are employed in juvenile facilities on a ratio of one to every 10 learners. We do not have figures for previous years. Each juvenile establishment has a Special Needs Co-ordinator who is responsible for the assessment of learners, drawing up specialist learning programmes, supervising Learning Support Assistants and supporting all staff on special educational needs issues. We have also appointed Heads of Learning and Skills in all juvenile facilities to co-ordinate learning and skills provision, and will be appointing a further 110 in adult prisons this year. Other non-teaching staff involved in prison education include Instructional Officers, Prison Officer Instructors, other prison staff and voluntary workers.

Pupil Numbers

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list, by LEA, total pupil numbers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools since 1990.

David Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 17 March 2003, Official Report, column 567W, what the average time taken for a qualification to be approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority following a recommendation from an awarding body is; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: In 2002 it took an average of eight weeks from the submission of an NVQ by an awarding body to its accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). Vocationally related qualifications are typically more diverse and have taken an average of 20 weeks. There have been very few general qualifications accredited over the last 18 months.
	QCA will be implementing a streamlined accreditation process in autumn 2003. This will build on proposals currently being piloted that have resulted in NVQs being accredited in six weeks and vocationally related qualifications in seven weeks.

Research Funding

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how universities qualify for research funding; what measures are in place to ensure that funding is fairly distributed to smaller universities; and what plans he has to concentrate research funding into a smaller group of universities.

Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) distributes a portion of its block grant to higher education institutions according to the quality of their research as measured by the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and the volume of research they carry out. This provides equitable funding to institutions of all sizes. The White Paper, The future of higher education, set out plans to strengthen higher education research by increasing substantially the funding available, providing further support to the best research departments and institutions, promoting collaboration and encouraging and supporting promising departments and emerging subject areas. HEFCE is considering how best to implement the White Paper plans. Some institutions have seen reductions in their research funding for the coming year, typically where most of their research falls below international standards of excellence. However, the Government do not intend to restrict research funding to a particular group of universities. In the longer term funding may be affected by Sir Gareth Roberts' review of research assessment, commissioned by the higher education funding bodies. The report of that review was published for consultation last month (http://www.ra-review.ac.uk/). It recommends a more flexible system of research assessment, including different types of assessment for institutions and departments with different levels of research. As now, HEFCE would decide how to use the assessment results in funding institutions.

School Students

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students living in catchment areas in north-east Lincolnshire attend schools outside the north-east Lincolnshire LEA area.

David Miliband: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Total number of pupils resident in north-east Lincolnshire   Of which attend schools situated within the LEA  Of which attend schools situated outside the LEA 
			  LEA Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 2003 27,479 26,776 97.4 703 2.6 
			 2002 27,466 26,794 97.6 672 2.4 
		
	
	
		Breakdown of percentage of all pupils living in NE Lincolnshire LEA but attending schools in other LEAs -- January 2002 and 2003
		
			  LEA name in which school attended (14)Percentage 
		
		
			 January 2003 Calderdale (15) 
			  Kirklees (15) 
			  City of Kingston Upon Hull 0.1 
			  East Riding of Yorkshire (15) 
			  North Lincolnshire 0.1 
			  North Yorkshire (15) 
			  Nottinghamshire (15) 
			  Lincolnshire 2.3 
			 January 2002 City of Kingston Upon Hull 0.1 
			  East Riding of Yorkshire (15) 
			  North Lincolnshire 0.1 
			  North Yorkshire (15) 
			  Lancashire (15) 
			  Lincolnshire 2.3 
		
	
	(14) Figures may not add to overall total because of rounding
	(15) Percentage below 0.1 per cent.

Student Finance

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what help is given to school leavers who wish to attend non-university courses and apprenticeships; and what financial assistance is available to them.

Ivan Lewis: There is a range of financial support and assistance available to young people on leaving school. The Minimum Training Allowance is available for those who follow a work-based vocational route and who do not have waged status. For those continuing in learning, the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available in 56 LEA areas in England. The EMA is a weekly allowance for 1619 year olds and will be made available nationally from September 2004.
	For those who face specific barriers there is financial support available through the Learner Support Funds. This provides help towards transport costs, books and equipment, residential allowances and help with child care. The Connexions Service provides a wide range of advice and support to young people regarding entry into further education and training. In addition, the Connexions Card enables students to collect rewards and discounts for participating in learning.
	The support arrangements for school leavers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.

Teachers

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of (a) nursery/primary and (b) secondary school qualified teachers who are not employed in the maintained sector in each year since 1990.

David Miliband: The following table provides the available data on qualified teachers who were not in service in the maintained schools sector in England and Wales at 31 March of each year shown. Data are not available by phase of training or for years prior to 1998.
	
		
			  No service recorded(16) Previously in service(17) Teachers in service outside the maintained schools sector(18) 
		
		
			 1998 84,800 307,200 70,800 
			 1999 86,400 304,700 72,600 
			 2000 87,700 304,000 74,000 
			 2001 88,000 300,200 74,600 
		
	
	(16) Includes those who qualified in England or Wales who have no known service in England or Wales. Some may have entered service not recorded on the DTR, which is maintained primarily for the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), e.g. in some independent schools or outside of England and Wales.
	(17) Qualified teachers with some previous service in any sector in England and Wales. Includes teachers who qualified other than in England and Wales. Some teachers will return to service after career breaks.
	(18) Qualified teachers in service in England and Wales outside the maintained schools sector, e.g. those in the independent sector, further or higher education sectors or miscellaneous establishments who are members of the TPS.
	Source:
	Database of Teacher Records (DTR).

Top-up Fees

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) letters, (b) faxes, (c) phone calls, (d) e-mails and (e) petitions have been received by his Department since 2000 (i) in favour of and (ii) opposed to top-up fees.

Alan Johnson: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Training

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his strategy for the proposed increase in workplace-based learning.

Ivan Lewis: As part of the Skills Strategy we are considering how best to target the public funding of adult learning to ensure the significant investment we are making has the maximum impact in supporting adult skills, alongside investment from employers. We will set out our conclusions shortly.

Veterinary Science

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places for veterinary science were offered by UK universities in each of the last five years; and how many applications there were for university places in veterinary science in each of those years.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 16 June 2003
	Information on the numbers of places for veterinary science is not held centrally. The Higher Education Funding Council for England has responsibility for funding the number of HE places in English HE institutions, but these places are funded in terms of four broad price groups, rather than individual subjects. The price groups recognise that some subjects, such as those that involve laboratory or workshop activities, require higher levels of resource to those that are mainly classroom based. Veterinary Science is included in highest price group along with clinical medicine and dentistry.
	The available figures for applicants and acceptances for Veterinary Science courses in the United Kingdom via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) are shown in the following table.
	
		Applicants and acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses in Veterinary Science
		
			 Year of entry Applicants(19) Acceptances(19) 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1998 1,790 620 
			 1999 1,800 630 
			 2000 1,760 660 
			 2001 1,610 700 
			 2002 1,600 770 
		
	
	(19) Covers both home and overseas students.
	Note:
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Correspondence

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years.

Harriet Harman: A holding reply was given on 3 June 2003.
	My own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, the Serious Fraud Office, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate do not have dedicated Ministerial Correspondence Units due to the small size of the offices. Ministerial Correspondence is delegated for preparation of a response to the most appropriate person depending on the subject matter.
	The Crown Prosecution Service's Correspondence Unit deals with all Ministerial Correspondence sent to the Director, Chief Executive and the Law Officers, general correspondence from members of the public, the Public Enquiry Point and, in accordance with the third tier of the Crown Prosecution Service's Complaints Procedure, looks into all matters in which complainants remain dissatisfied with the responses received from branch and area level.
	In 200102, four staff were assigned to the Correspondence Unit (one Higher Executive Officer, two Executive Officers and one Administrative Officer). In the following year the number rose to five when a further part-time Higher Executive Officer joined the Unit and was given specific responsibility for third tier complaints. The Correspondence Unit forms part of the Director's Private Office and the staff report to the Director's Private Secretary.

Sally Clark

George Osborne: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to her answer of 8 April 2003, Official Report, column 154W, whether she is now in a position to make a statement on the implications for the Crown Prosecution Service of the case of Mrs. Sally Clark.

Harriet Harman: The Court of Appeal has now given its judgment in full in the case of Mrs. Sally Clark. In giving its reasons for quashing the murder convictions, the Court found the convictions were unsafe. No fault was attributed to the Crown Prosecution Service.
	The Court of Appeal focused on the non-disclosure of potentially significant evidence by Dr. Williams. It also considered the use of statistical evidence by Professor Meadow.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has already responded to the Sally Clark judgment. It is in the process of issuing guidance to all Chief Crown Prosecutors instructing them to identify cases involving either Doctor Williams or Professor Meadow and ensuring that the defence are made aware of the judgment. Such disclosure would also be applied to any future cases. The implications for previous cases involving Doctor Williams has been discussed and is still being assessed. The Crown Prosecution Service is involved, alongside other relevant agencies, in consideration of that issue.

Departmental Events

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) other conferences sponsored by her Department and which took place on non-departmental premises in the last 12 months, broken down by title, purpose, date and cost.

Harriet Harman: A holding reply was given on 25 March 2003.
	The Crown Prosecution Service holds a number of events of this kind throughout the year. The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep a central record of all such events across England and Wales and could not obtain such information without incurring disproportionate cost. However, I am able to list those events that were national or international rather than local and these are shown in the table. The total cost of the 17 events for which information is held was 268,122.
	
		
			 Event Place Purpose Date Cost 
		
		
			 National Senior Management Conference The Royal York Hotel, York To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans April 2002 46,150 
			 National Senior Management Conference Russell Hotel, London To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans July 2002 18,760 
			 National Senior Management Conference De Vere Garden Park, Chester To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans October 2002 47,242 
			 National Senior Management Conference Russell Hotel London To update all senior managers on progress against current plans and involve them in the development of future strategy and plans January 2003 32,857 
			 Conference of the UK Prosecuting Agencies Browns Court Room, Covent Garden, London To provide a forum for representatives of UK prosecuting agencies to share knowledge of information systems and to explore ways of closer networking September 2002 3,000 
			 National CPS Training conference Belton Woods Hotel, Grantham To address training issues, share ideas look at the development of trainers within the CPS May 2002 3,000 
			 Higher Court Advocates Conference Nottingham Royal Moat House Development of HCA's and HCA tutors June 2002 10,389 
			 Speaking up for Justice Conference Leeds Hilton Development of Speaking up for Justice tutors March 2003 8,345 
			 Victims Perspective Conference Bath Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff April 2002 3,000 
			 Victims Perspective Conference Belton Woods Hotel Grantham Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff October 2002 3,000 
			 Victims Perspective Conference DurhamCC Increase awareness of victims issues among CPS staff November 2002 3,000 
			 Community Engagement Seminar Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth To explain, promote and encourage community engagement across the CPS Areas. This was the final event of four, which had been held across the country. May 2002 8,380 
			 Equality and Diversity Recognition Awards Ceremony New Connaught Rooms, Great Queen Street, London Awards to celebrate the achievements of individuals, teams or groups who have incorporated equality and diversity aspects into their work within the CPS and helped to raise public confidence in the service. October 2002 17,865 
			 CPS Conference on Homophobic Crime and LGBT Issues Savill Court Hotel Egham To formally launch the Public Policy Statement on Homophobic Crime and associated leaflet, booklet and guidance document. November 2002 19,384 
			 On the Edge of Objectivity Reducing the Justice Gap within 'Hate' Crimes City Hall, Cathays Park Cardiff To identify mechanisms to reduce the justice gap in hate crimes. February 2003 17,750 
			 Proceeds of Crime Conference Thistle Hotel, Victoria To update CPS champions on progress with implementation of proceeds of crime legislation March 2003 Not yetavailable 
			 National Domestic Violence Coordinators Network Conference Cavendish Conference Centre London Opportunity for Domestic Violence Co-ordinators to exchange information and promote good practice June 2002 6,000 
			 Human Trafficking Conference Eastwell Manor Ashford, Kent Facilitate greater cooperation between EU States and Candidate Countries and make recommendations. May 2002 20,000 
		
	
	The Serious Fraud Office has not sponsored any (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) other conferences in the last 12 months.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate endeavours to hold two staff conferences/training events each year. Their purpose is the discussion of matters of importance across the Inspectorate and also evaluating and achieving consistency in the inspection process. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate does not have a room sufficiently big to hold the combined London/York staff at its offices and therefore the first day of each conference has been held at the Institute of Minerals. The second and third days of each conference have been held in groups and therefore accommodated within HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate premises. The cost 200203 was 2,902.81.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate is currently leading the pilot joint inspection of the Gloucestershire CJS Area. An initial meeting was held with the Shadow Local Criminal justice Board and all other interested local agencies. In the absence of other suitable accommodation, a meeting room and facilities at the St. George Hotel, Cheltenham was used. The cost was 1,610.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department makes full use of its own facilities in its HQ building at Queen Anne's Chambers in SW1 for events that it sponsors, which are mainly staff training and internal management activities. Occasional use is made of non-departmental premises for such events where there is considered to be specific benefit and/or there is a need to do so. The events held by the Department on non-departmental premises in the last 12 months (from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002) are listed in the following table. These are mostly in the nature of workshops and seminars.
	
		
			 Date Event Purpose Cost 
		
		
			 12 and 13 March 2002 AO development course Self development training for administrative officers 2,650 
			 19 March 2002 Leadership seminar A seminar for the staff in Bona Vacantia Division 1,197 
			 1 May 2002 Government Legal Service conference To enable government lawyers to share experience and discuss common issues 16,000(20) 
			 15 and 16 May 2002 AO development course Self development training for administrative officers 968 
			 2 and 3 July 2002 AO development course See above 2,650 
			 3 September 2002 Management Module 1 Leading and managing people Part 1 of a 6t part management and leadership course for middle managers. 1,247 
			 20 September2002 Management Module 2 Part 2: managing money in Treasury Solicitor's Department 484 
			 15 October 2002 Appreciating difference workshop Diversity training for HR staff and Diversity Group 835 
			 8 October 2002 Management Module 3 Part 3: Client and supplier management 489 
			 20 October 2002 Management Module 4 Part 4: Managing change and risk 484 
			 6 November 2002 Management Module 5 Part 5: Process and project management 580 
			 11/12 November 2002 Supervisory Board Strategy meeting To identify the business strategy for the Agency for the following 3 years 5,300 
			 27 November 2002 Management module 6 Part 6: managing you own effectiveness 481 
		
	
	(20) The cost of this event was covered from the Departments of those attending.
	The figures provided include direct accommodation costs only: staff time, overheads for organising, facilitating and participating in the event are not included.
	The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers has not sponsored any relevant meeting in the last 12 months

Departmental Running Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her private offices separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) the Attorney General's Department.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 27 March 2003
	Of all the departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility, only the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers has a ministerial private office. The cost of the private office cannot be separately identified from the total cost of the department. The total cost of the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers for the financial year 200102 was 1,834,968 in staff costs and 974,974 on other expenditure.

Discontinued Trials

Roger Gale: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will examine the causes behind the decision to discontinue the trials of Adrian Pasareanu, Lulezim Balliu, Alin Turcu and their two co-defendants; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The Code for Crown Prosecutors makes clear that no prosecution may be commenced unless it is believed that there is a realistic prospect of a conviction, that is that it is more likely than not that there will be a conviction. However, once a prosecution has begun, it is the duty of the prosecution to keep the prospect of conviction under constant review. If there comes a time when it is believed that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction, it is the duty of the prosecution to say so and to take steps accordingly.
	The Crown Prosecution Service, undertaking that process of constant review, recently received information which meant that it could no longer put forward the principal prosecution witness, Florim Gashi, as a witness of truth.
	In May 2003 the section of the CPS dealing with the kidnap received information showing that Mr. Gashi may have entrapped a Wandsworth parking attendant into criminal behaviour. The attendant also made allegations against Mr. Gashi that he had access to guns, an allegation that had also been made by one of the defendants in this case. Further, it was apparent that Mr. Gashi had lied to the police.
	This information prompted a re-review of the whole case.
	The Crown Prosecution Service was not told until three months after the arrests that Mr. Gashi had been paid for his information. Mr. Gashi had previously denied receiving more than expenses. It was only on 13 May 2003 that a News of the World employee disclosed that a cheque for 10,000 had been issued by the News of the World on 1 November 2002.
	In the light of these developments the CPS requested advice of experienced senior counsel, who advised that there was no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction. As a result the CPS took the decision not to proceed with the case.

Discontinued Trials

Roger Gale: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will estimate the cost, to the public purse, of the abortive trials of Adrian Pasareanu, Lulezim Balliu, Alin Turcu and their co-defendants.

Harriet Harman: It is estimated that the prosecution costs in this case will be in the region of 70,000.
	This figure does not include staff or running costs, which are attributable to the operation of the Crown Prosecution Service as a whole and cannot be assessed on an individual basis.

Document Classification

Harry Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General how many documents are held by the Law Officer's Departments that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 8 April 2003
	All the Departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibly, including the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, deal with a large number of documents subject to security classification. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Efficiency Savings

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what the target is for efficiency savings in 200304 expressed (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage of the Department's expenditure limit.

Harriet Harman: A holding reply was given on 20 May 2003.
	Crown Prosecution Service
	The Crown Prosecution Service does not have a specific departmental target for efficiency savings in 200304. One of the Spending Review 2002 PSA targets is to increase value for money from the criminal justice system by 3 per cent. a year. The Crown Prosecution Service will be contributing towards the target, which covers improvements in efficiency as well as improvements in effectiveness. Treasury Solicitor's Department
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department does not have specific target for efficiency savings in 200304.
	The majority of the Department operates as an Executive Agency recovering the costs of most of its services from Government Departments and publicly funded bodies. As a result of the Quinquenial Review of the Agency in 2001, significant management effort and resources are being focused on improving the business operations including greater efficiency. The changes under way will need to be completed in order that these improvements can be achieved.
	In 200304, the Department has two cost measures that serve to control expenditure:
	1. To recover from clients the full operating costs for chargeable services.
	2. To maintain corporate staff overhead at no more than 15 per cent. of total staff costs.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Serious Fraud Office and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, the Serious Fraud Office and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers do not have targets for efficiency savings in 200304 although they expect, and will, continue to seek to maximise the value for money achieved in all of its expenditure.

EU Directives

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the EU Directives and Regulations which have been implemented by the Law Officers' Departments since 17 April 2002.

Harriet Harman: A holding reply was given on 7 April 2003.
	None of the Departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility have implemented any EU Directives or Regulations since 17 April 2002.

Industrial Action

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many working days were lost owing to industrial action by staff in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies in 2002.

Harriet Harman: A holding reply was given on 12 March 2003.
	In respect of all the departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility, the answer is none.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Solicitor-General how many of her staff retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year.

Harriet Harman: There have been two retirements within the Crown Prosecution Service on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year.
	There have been no retirements on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year in any of the other departments for which the Attorney General holds ministerial responsibility.

Trupti Patel

Paul Marsden: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the case against Mrs. Trupti Patel cost public funds.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 16 June 2003
	The trial of Regina v. Trupti Patel only concluded on 11 June 2003, and it is therefore not possible at this early stage to give an accurate costs figure. However, the Crown Prosecution Service estimate that their costs will be in the region of 160,000 to 170,000.
	This figure does not include staff or running costs, which are attributable to the operation of the Crown Prosecution Service as a whole and cannot be assessed on an individual basis.

Pay Audits

Angela Eagle: To ask the Solicitor-General what progress has been made on completing a pay audit in her Department and its non-departmental public bodies to measure any disadvantage in terms of remuneration for (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) people with disabilities; and if she will publish the results of such an audit.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 10 June 2003
	The information is as follows:
	Crown Prosecution Service:
	The Crown Prosecution Service has undertaken an analysis of both its pay structure and the individual pay details of all its permanent staff. The detailed results are being discussed with the Departmental Trade Unions and a formal action plan will be available soon.
	While the focus of the Crown Prosecution Service's Equal Pay Review Model is on gender equality, the Department's intention is to apply it to other groups as part of a wider diversity agenda later this year. This we will be able to do more effectively given the outcomes we obtained from the current exercise.
	Serious Fraud Office:
	The Serious Fraud Office conducted its equal pay review in April 2003 and is in the process of drafting an action plan. It is proposed that a copy of the agreed action plan will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
	Treasury Solicitor's Department and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers:
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department has completed the review of its pay systems, encompassing women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. An action plan has been produced and this will be placed in the Library of the House after full consideration has been given to the issues identified. The Review covers staff in the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate:
	Although the pay systems for HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate differ from those of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, they fall within that budget and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate was therefore included as a part of the Treasury Solicitor's Department review of the pay systems encompassing women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate is currently giving consideration to how the recommendations made following the review may impact upon it.

Pay Review

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what progress has been made with the pay review in the Law Officers' Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 7 April 2003
	The information is as follows:
	Crown Prosecution Service
	The Crown Prosecution Service has undertaken an analysis of both its pay structure and the individual pay details of all its permanent staff. The detailed results are being discussed with the Departmental Trade Unions and a formal action plan will be available soon.
	While the focus of the Crown Prosecution Service's Equal Pay Review Model is on gender equality, the Department's intention is to apply it to other groups as part of a wider diversity agenda late this year. This we will be able to do more effectively given the outcomes we obtained from the current exercise.
	Serious Fraud Office
	The Serious Fraud Office conducted its equal pay review in April 2003 and is in the process of drafting an action plan. It is proposed that a copy of the agreed action plan will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
	Treasury Solicitor's Department and Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department has completed the review of its pay systems, encompassing women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. An action plan has been produced and this will be placed in the Library of the House after full consideration has been given to the issues identified. The Review covers staff in the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	Although the pay systems for HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate differ from those of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, they fall within that budget and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate was therefore included as apart of the Treasury Solicitor's Department review of the pay systems encompassing women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate is currently giving consideration to how the recommendations made following the review may impact upon it.

Public Sector Pensions

Oliver Heald: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the (a) funded and (b) unfunded public sector pension schemes for which the Attorney General's Department is responsible; when the last actuarial valuation was of each scheme; what the value was of the assets at the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; what deficit is disclosed by the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 27 March 2003
	The Attorney General has no responsibility for any funded or unfunded public sector pension schemes.

Public Service Agreement

John Bercow: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Department has taken to publicise its Public Service Agreement targets; and at what cost to public funds.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 21 May 2003.
	Crown Prosecution Service
	The Crown Prosecution Service included its Public Service Agreement targets in its Target Delivery Report, published in February 2003, and in its Strategic and Business Plans for 2003 and 2006, published in March 2003. Public Service Agreement targets are also included in the annual Departmental Report which will be published very shortly. These documents are available on the Crown Prosecution website.
	The inclusion of Public Service Agreement targets in these documents is at no additional cost to public funds.
	Serious Fraud Office
	The Serious Fraud Office does not have Public Service Agreement targets but is finalising appropriate targets to cover the Survey 2002 period from 200304 to 200506. Once agreed they will be published on the official website. The cost to public funds is likely to be under 500.
	Treasury Solicitor's Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department is not a main Department and is not, therefore, covered by a Public Service Agreement. However, the Department was required to produce and agree with the Attorney General and HM Treasury a Corporate Plan covering the Spending Review 2002 period. This included new performance targets and for accounting purposes covers the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
	The Department's Corporate Plan was placed in the House of Commons and House of Lords Libraries and on the Department's website. Copies were also made available to all staff through the Department's Intranet. The presentational copies for these purposes were produced in-house at opportunity cost. The only direct cost incurred was 650 for colour photocopying for an additional 60 copies for senior management, other key staff and clients.

Sellafield

Llew Smith: To ask the Solicitor-General what main points the Attorney General made at the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea tribunal on the dispute with the Republic of Ireland over the Sellafield MOX plant, international movements of radioactive materials, and the protection of the marine environments of the Irish Sea; and if she will place in the Library copies of United Kingdom submissions to the tribunal.

Harriet Harman: The Attorney General is leading the United Kingdom's legal team at the MOX Plant case before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea arbitral tribunal. In those proceedings the United Kingdom requests the Tribunal to:
	(i) adjudge and declare that it lacks jurisdiction over the claims brought against the United Kingdom by Ireland;
	or, in the alternative
	(ii) dismiss the claims brought against the United Kingdom by Ireland.
	The public transcript of the hearing, both in the main proceedings which have now been suspended, and in the provisional measures proceedings subsequently commenced by Ireland, are available on the website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (http://www.cpa-pca.org/) as are the written pleadings of the United Kingdom and Ireland. A copy of these public documents will be placed in the Library as soon as possible.

Work Placements

Graham Allen: To ask the Solicitor-General how many university students her Department and associated agencies supported or sponsored with a work placement in the last year; what her policy is on work placements; what plans she has to develop such schemes; and what her policy is on paying their university fees.

Harriet Harman: On 24 June 2003 the Crown Prosecution Service will be launching a new law scholarship programme, which will sponsor administration and clerical employees to become qualified lawyers.
	The programme will start with 4.78 million over three years and will sponsor 216 law scholars (rising to 338 in 200506) who will get their fees paid and will be supported at work.
	As well as widening access to the legal profession the programme will extend the availability of Higher education to those with no post-school qualifications, and will assist in the recruitment and retention of CPS employees.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department and Serious Fraud Office offer vacation placements under a scheme operated on behalf of the Government Legal Service by the Government Legal Service Secretariat. Through such placements students get an insight into the unique perspective of the law within Government while having the opportunity to sample the attractions of Government legal work as a career choice. The scheme has operated successfully for several years, though we keep it under constant review to see how it could be improved.
	Seventy six places were offered in 2002 by 12 Government Legal Service Departments. Of these Treasury Solicitor's Department offered 20 places and the Serious Fraud Office offered two places. The scheme is targeted at second year law students and final year non-law students. Departments pay a modest allowance to cover travelling and other expenses but there is no specific contribution to university fees.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department, along with a number of other Government Departments, also provides six-month work placements on an annual basis to students from Brunel University who are undertaking a four-year sandwich law degree course. In 2002 there were seven such students. They are paid during their work placement, but there is no specific contribution to university fees.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers are both very small departments and do not have work placement schemes.

TREASURY

Employment Rates

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the employment rate is of (a) men aged between 50 and 65 and (b) women aged between 50 and 60 broken down by each year of age.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Willetts, dated 18 June 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the employment rates of men aged between 50 and 65, and women aged between 50 and 60 broken down by year.
	The attached table gives the information requested for the twelve month period ending February 2003. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
	
		Employment rates(21)of men aged 5065 and women aged 5060 United Kingdom, March 2002 to February 2003 -- Percentage
		
			 Age Men Women 
		
		
			 50 86.2 75.1 
			 51 84.8 74.0 
			 52 83.2 73.4 
			 53 82.4 70.3 
			 54 80.3 69.5 
			 55 77.5 66.7 
			 56 74.6 62.5 
			 57 73.1 58.0 
			 58 71.2 54.6 
			 59 67.1 48.6 
			 60 59.8 37.4 
			 61 56.1  
			 62 49.7  
			 63 47.0  
			 64 36.3  
			 65 23.8  
		
	
	(21) Total in employment as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group
	Note:
	These LFS estimates have not been adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey

Equitable Life

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date he expects the Penrose report into Equitable Life to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: Arrangements for the publication of Lord Penrose's report will be made after he delivers his report to Treasury Ministers.

Civil Service (New Entrants)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new entrants to the Civil Service were employed in his Department in each of the last five years; and how many in each year were aged 50 or over.

John Healey: The information is as follows:
	
		HM Treasury
		
			 1 April31 March New entrants to the Civil Service Number aged50 or over 
		
		
			 199899 76 2 
			 19992000 63 0 
			 200001 132 4 
			 200102 181 3 
			 200203 115 2 
		
	
	
		HM Customs  Excise
		
			 1 April31 March New entrants to the Civil Service Number aged50 or over 
		
		
			 199899 1,284 75 
			 19992000 1,496 84 
			 200001 2,323 129 
			 200102 1,468 69 
			 200203 1,815 112 
		
	
	
		Inland Revenue
		
			 1 April31 March New entrants to the Civil Service Number aged50 or over 
		
		
			 199899 2,537 313 
			 19992000 4,054 581 
			 200001 2,833 279 
			 200102 4,240 485 
			 200203 4,637 524

Contributions Agency

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the head of the Contributions Agency was in 1998; how many meetings the head of the Contributions Agency had with Ministers in the Department of Social Security in 1998; whether minutes were kept of such meetings; whether written reports were prepared in 1998 by the Agency on the operations of the Agency; and to which Minister of the Department of Social Security the head of the Contributions Agency reported in 1998.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made to the House yesterday.

Euro

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he will set a limit on the transition costs to Government Departments of joining the euro;
	(2)  what his expenditure has been on (a) the Business Advisory Group and (b) the City Euro Group in each year since their creation;
	(3)  whether the transition costs to Government departments of joining the euro will be met from (a) existing departmental budgets, (b) increased taxation and (c) increased borrowing;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the transition costs to Government departments of joining the euro.

Paul Boateng: Details of expenditure on changeover planning were included in the third outline National Changeover Plan, published on 9 June 2003. Copies of the document are in the Library of the House.
	The costs of a UK changeover would depend on the approach taken, and the extent to which organisations have already considered the euro as a factor when making investment decisions. By planning ahead, costs to the whole economy can be kept to a minimum. The third outline National Changeover Plan provides all sectors of the economy with a basis for planning.

Financial Advice

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will develop a system of generic financial advice for those on lower incomes.

Paul Boateng: The FSA tells me that it is currently working on its commitment to develop a comprehensive strategy to help consumers, including those on lower incomes, gain a better understanding of the financial services market place.
	This involves working with advice agencies, consumer groups, the industry and others, to establish the most effective ways to deliver financial information and generic advice.
	The FSA plans to consult widely as this work develops.

Financial Advice

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of independent financial advisers whose independent status will be lost as a result of depolarisation.

Paul Boateng: How independent financial advisers chose to conduct and organise their business is a matter for them.
	The FSA have examined this issue carefully as part of their wider work on polarisation reform. They set out their views on the costs and benefits of reform in Appendix B of their Consultation Paper 166, published in January 2003. The FSA also published the report to them by National Economics Research Associates.

Financial Advice

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment has been made of the number of independent financial advisers who have been refused professional indemnity cover.

Paul Boateng: The FSA tell me that they do not collect data in this form. A firm may be denied cover by one insurer and subsequently obtain it from another, but that is a commercial matter between insurers and their clients.
	What is important is that firms who should obtain PI cover do so, or otherwise address the issue, for example by obtaining a waiver.

Financial Advice

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints of mis-selling of (a) endowment policies and (b) other financial products by (i) tied agencies and (ii) independent financial advisers were made to the Financial Services Authority in (A) 2001, (B) 2002 and (C) 2003.

Paul Boateng: The Financial Services Authority, as regulator, makes rules for IFAs and for tied agents. These include rules designed to prevent mis-selling and rules that require regulated firms to follow specified complaints procedures. Where firms are unable to resolve complaints themselves, FSA rules require them to allow complainants to pursue their complaints with the Financial Ombudsman Service and to comply promptly with an ombudsman's decision.
	The Financial Ombudsman Service has provided the following figures for complaints it has handled in the last three financial years:
	
		Mortgage endowment complaints
		
			  IFAs Percentage of total Tied agents Percentage of total Total 
		
		
			 200203 1,898 13.99 11,672 86.01 13,570 
			 200102 2,312 15.84 12,283 84,16 14,595 
			 200001(22) 9,067 
		
	
	(22) Investment complaints prior to April 2001 were dealt with by the Personal Investment Authority (PIA) Ombudsman Bureau, which did not record statistics that can be analysed in this way. However, across the range of investment related complaints in 200001, those against IFAs accounted for 13.9 per cent. of the total and tied agents 86.1 per cent.
	
		Complaints about other investment-related products (personal pension plans, whole-of-life/non mortgage-linked endowments and other 'packaged' investment products)
		
			  IFAs Percentage of total Tied agents Percentage of total Total 
		
		
			 200203 3,112 16.24 16,047 83.76 19,159 
			 200102 1,952 15.76 10,434 84.24 12,386 
			 200001(23) 8,019 
		
	
	(23) Investment complaints prior to April 2001 were dealt with by the Personal Investment Authority (PIA) Ombudsman Bureau, which did not record statistics that can be analysed in this way. However, across the range of investment related complaints in 200001, those against IFAs accounted for 13.9 per cent. of the total and tied agents 86.1 per cent.

Inflation Measures

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice has been received from the RPI Advisory Committee regarding his intention to give the Bank of England an inflation target as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices; and what further consultation is planned with this Committee.

John Healey: None. The RPI Advisory Committee is not a Standing Committee. If it were convened, it would be to make recommendations to the Chancellor on proposed changes to the construction of the RPI, not to give advice on inflation target or monetary policy.

Iraq

Jonathan R Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much financial assistance he has set aside for reconstruction work in Iraq; and what areas of reconstruction the Government (a) is financially supporting and (b) plans to support.

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
	DFID has so far committed 115 million towards humanitarian assistance in Iraq. This finance is channelled though the organisations best placed to deliver assistance on the ground: United Nations agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and NGOs. We have set aside a further 95 million for additional needs as they emerge.
	In addition, HM Treasury has earmarked an extra 60 million from the Central Reserve to meet humanitarian and reconstruction needs in Iraq. 5 million of this has been allocated to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to fund UK secondees to the Coalition Provisional Authority. The remaining 55 million remains available as required.
	The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations are undertaking social and economic needs assessments for Iraq. Decisions on future DFID assistance for reconstruction will reflect the needs identified in these assessments as well as the inputs proposed by other donors. We expect a donor conference on Iraq to be convened in the autumn.
	DFID's interim humanitarian and rehabilitation strategy is available from the DFID website at www.dfid.org.uk

Parliament Buildings (VAT)

Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much VAT the Treasury has received from the construction of the Scottish Parliament; and how much VAT the Treasury is expected to receive in total based on the latest estimates for the Scottish Parliament building;
	(2)  how much VAT the Treasury received from the construction of Portcullis House.

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise is debarred by statute from disclosing information about the tax affairs of individual taxpayers, including public and private sector bodies. Exemption 15 (Statutory and other restrictions) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies. It is for bodies concerned to publish any such information as appropriate to their reporting obligations. However, all construction projects undertaken in the UK are subject to the same set of VAT rules laid out in the VAT Act 1994.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Appeal Processing Centre

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the backlog of cases at the Appeal Processing Centre is; and how many people are employed at the centre.

Beverley Hughes: The latest figure based on management information for the number of cases outstanding in the Appeals Processing Centre is 47,000 at the end of September 2002. This includes all appeals lodged with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) that had not yet been sent to the Immigration Appellate Authority.
	The Appeals Processing Centre currently employs 306 staff.

British Overseas Citizens

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been granted citizenship who were previously British Overseas Citizens.

Beverley Hughes: 1,055 people who were previously British Overseas Citizens were granted British citizenship in 2001.
	Statistics for 2002 are due to be published later this year in the Home Office statistical bulletin Persons Granted British Citizenship United Kingdom, 2002, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.

Correspondence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office does not have a dedicated ministerial correspondence unit. The Direct Communications Unit (DCU) serves the non-Immigration Nationality Directorate Home Office, but the staff who deal with ministerial correspondence also deal with approximately 40,000 public letters per annum. Staff in IND also deal with public correspondence, and have a variety of other taks. The table shows the staffing figures.
	
		Staff employed in Ministerial Correspondence Units in theHome Office
		
			  April 2002 April 2003 
		
		
			 DCU 52 permanent 49 permanent 
			  1 casual  
			 IND No figures available 170 permanent

Correspondence

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a substantive reply will be sent to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed regarding his letter to the Minister of State of 4 September 2002 relating to an allegation of illegal immigration, ref 18268/2; and what the reasons are for the delay in dealing with the matter.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 16 June 2003
	I wrote to the right hon. Member on 18 June 2003.

Entitlement/Identity Cards

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a national identity card; what information it will hold; what services it could access; whether it will be compulsory; and if he will make a statement on how a card could affect civil liberties.

Beverley Hughes: The six month consultation period on entitlement cards and identity fraud ended on 31 January 2003. We have received over 4,000 individual responses to the consultation exercise.
	The consultation paper included suggestions for what might be held on any supporting database, which would be needed to administer a scheme. Only core personal information such as name, address and date of birth would be held, which is held many times over by a number of Government systems. The consultation document suggested that sensitive personal information as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998 would not be held on the database or card without consent.
	The consultation paper invited comments on what services might be linked to a card scheme. We have said all along that it would not be compulsory to carry any card. The consultation paper explained how a card scheme could comply with all eight principles of the Data Protection Act. In providing greater protection against identity theft and fraud, a card scheme could enhance civil liberties.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the committee for the European Refugee Fund, the number of times and the dates on which it has met since January 2002, the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, the decisions it has made since January 2002 and the means used to communicate these decisions to the House.

Beverley Hughes: Officials from the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate represent the United Kingdom. The precise composition of the delegation will vary according to the topics under discussion. Representation from other Member States is a matter for those Governments.
	Since January 2002 the Committee has met four times. The dates of these meetings were 6 February 2002, 27 May 2002, 13 February 2003 and 22 May 2003. It has consulted once by way of written procedure in December 2002.
	The agenda items that have been discussed are as follows:
	6 February 2002
	Opinion on draft revised decisions on co-financing of Member States national programmes for 2002, further to the increase in the budget of the European Refugee Fund (ERF) allocated by the Budgetary Authority;
	Evaluation of Programmes;
	Information from the Commission on decision regarding the selection of Community Action projects 2001 (Article 5 Council Decision);
	Information on Call for Proposals published by the European Commission for Community Action projects 2002 (Article 5 Council Decision);
	Information from the Commission on monitoring of national programmes; and
	Presentation of its activities by the Council of Europe Development Bank. 27 May 2002
	Information from the Commission on implementation of Commission Decision 2002/307/EC of 18 December 2001, laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Decision 2000/596/EC as regards management and control systems and procedures for making financial corrections in the context of actions co-financed by the ERF.
	10 December 2002 (Written procedure)
	Opinion on draft decisions on co-financing of Member States national programmes for 2003; and
	Information from the Commission on revised provisional allocations by Member States for 2003, based on forecast increased budget (subject to the final adoption by the Budgetary Authority).
	13 February 2003
	Opinion on draft revised decisions on co-financing of Member States national programmes for 2003, further to the increase in the budget of the ERF allocated by the Budgetary Authority;
	Information from the Commissionpreparation of final reports and financial statements for programme years 2000 and 2001;
	Information from the Commissionpresentation of independent evaluation by of 1998 and 1999 projects for asylum-seekers, displaced persons and refugees; and
	Information from the Commissionindependent ERF mid-term evaluation. 22 May 2003
	Question timepreparation of final reports and financial statements for programme years 2000 and 2001;
	Information from the CommissionERF 2004 provisional allocations;
	Information from the Commissioncall for proposals for Community Actions 2003;
	Bilateral meetings between the Commission and ERF-Member States on the preparation of final reports and financial statements for programme years 2000 and 2001; and
	Information from the Commissionpresentation of the ERF programme to the acceding countries.
	The Committee's function is advisory and it has made no decisions which fall to be reported to Parliament.

Extradition Requests

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding extradition requests have been made to the United Kingdom by each member of the European Union and EU accession states; and when the original extradition request was made in each case.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 16 June 2003
	The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Total no of extradition requests received by UK from all(24) countries 
		
		
			 1998 111 
			 1999 101 
			 2000 78 
			 2001 133 
			 2002 137 
			 Total 560 
		
	
	
		
			  Cases outstanding as of 31 May 2003 and year of receipt 
			 Requests from EU(24) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Belgium3 1 
			 France 1 1 1 1 2 3 7 6 5 
			 Germany  1 7 6 8 
			 Italy   2  1 3 8 12 3 
			 Luxembourg  
			 Netherlands   2 5 2 
			 Denmark  
			 Greece 11 
			 Portugal1 1 2 2 3 3 
			 Spain  2 1 2 2 1 5 6 4 
			 Austria1  
			 Finland  
			 Sweden1 1 
		
	
	(24) Figures do not include requests from Ireland which are not collected centrally.
	
		
			 Requests from EV Cases outstanding as of 31 May 2003 andyear of receipt 
			 Accession states 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Estonia  
			 Latvia   1   
			 Lithuania   3 5 1 
			 Poland 1  1 2  
			 Hungary  
			 Czech Republic   4 9 3 
			 Slovakia3  
			 Slovenia1  
			 Cyprus  
			 Malta

Interface with Faith Communities

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) women and (b) men there are amongst the faith community members of his Department's Working Group which is reviewing the Government's Interface with Faith Communities.

Fiona Mactaggart: There is one woman and six men faith community members of the group.
	The faith groups were encouraged to nominate a woman. However, most nominated a suitably qualified man and it would not have been appropriate for us to reject these nominations on the grounds of gender alone.
	We are conscious of the need to ensure proper representation of women and young people in faith consultations. We will be looking at this issue as part of this review.

Race Relations Amendment Act

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in his Department and non-departmental public bodies on implementing the requirements of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000; and if he will publish the results of the monitoring required by the Act.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office is committed to promoting equality and diversity for the communities we serve and also for our staff. This accords with the Department's purpose of working with individuals and communities to build a safe, just and tolerant society and our aim to support strong and active communities in which people of all races and backgrounds are valued and participate on equal terms. The Home Office published its Race Equality Scheme on 25 April 2002, in line with the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. We have identified a number of areas of our work as having a high potential impact on race equality and race relations, including policies on reducing crime and disorder, on police leadership, powers and relations with the public, on victims of crime, on drugs and on active communities, community cohesion and race relations. Our scheme commits us to assessing and consulting on new policies, and monitoring policies generally, for their impact on race equality and race relations.
	The Police Complaints Authority, National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service and Commission for Racial Equality have all published race equality schemes in line with the requirements of the Act. Although not required to do so, the Central Police Development and Training Agency (Centrex) has also published such a scheme; and the Parole Board, which has already produced an action plan against racial discrimination, on which it has consulted the Commission, is preparing a scheme.
	Mr right hon. Friend the Home Secretary appointed Mary Coussey as Independent Race Monitor for ministerial authorisations to discriminate on grounds of nationality, and of national and ethnic origin, in immigration and nationality functions. Her first interim report was published in November 2002. The Prison Service is in the process of revising its Race Equality Action Plan to take account of issues raised by the Commission for Racial Equality following the Commission's formal investigation of the Service.
	The Home Office has published a number of reports setting out the results of monitoring of the position of minority ethnic people in relation to our policies and employment practices, for example the Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2002 report, published in March 2003; and the milestone report on the Home Secretary's Race Equality Employment Targets (covering staff targets for the Home Office and Prison, Police, Fire and Probation Services), published in January 2003. We are currently collating and analysing data from monitoring of the Home Office's own employment processes relating to the first year of operation of the Department's Race Equality Scheme and expect to be in a position to publish the results in September 2003.

Sustainable Development

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on steps he is taking to meet the commitments set out in his Department's framework for sustainable development.

Fiona Mactaggart: A full statement of the steps the Home Office is taking to meet the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate is available on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/framework2.
	The main actions referred to in the statement are:
	1. The Prison Service has implemented environmental management systems at four sites and plan to use this experience to produce an implementation manual which will be piloted in their north-west area, with a view to wider adoption across the whole Service if it proves successful. The Probation Service Estate has only recently been taken into the Department's ownership and as part of their new property management arrangements, a system for identifying and managing key sustainable development impacts on their key sites will be in place by April 2004;
	2. On transport emissions the Home Office intends to purchase alternatively fuelled vehicles, so that by March 2006 10 per cent. of the fleet will be alternatively fuelled. The Department will also review its policy on motor mileage payments and consider measures to discourage staff from commuting to work by car;
	3. On the water targets, surveys will be undertaken at poor performing office buildings and recommended modifications where practicable will be undertaken. Prisons and laboratories are working towards individual benchmarks on water consumption. The key sites on the National Probation Service Estate which have responsibility for payment of utilities will also join watermark over the next two years; and
	4. The Home Office will respond to future commitments from the Framework as and when they are published.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Portcullis House

Pete Wishart: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the total cost was of Portcullis House.

Archy Kirkwood: The current expected final cost is in the region of 234 million, as outlined in the National Audit Office report: Construction of Portcullis House (HC750 of Session 200102), published on 19 April 2002. This figure covers the cost of the building, professional fees, furniture and fittings, but is subject to the settlement of final accounts with suppliers.

PRIME MINISTER

Department for Constitutional Affairs

William Cash: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the functions of the Department for Constitutional Affairs; and what the statutory authority is for the (a) exercise of the Lord Chancellor's functions by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and (b) transfer of those functions to the Secretary of State.

Tony Blair: Statutory functions are being transferred in the normal way by order under the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975. The right hon. Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC has been appointed as Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, and for the transitional period as Lord Chancellor. The transfer of functions from the Lord Chancellor to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs will be completed once the position of Lord Chancellor is abolished.
	The majority of the statutory functions of the Department for Constitutional Affairs will be the same as for the former Lord Chancellor's Department. The right hon. Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC will be responsible for the appointing, or advising on the appointment of, judges, during the transitional phase as Lord Chancellor. His other functions include:
	the administration of the court system (via the Court Service agency established in 1995) and a number of tribunals;
	the provision of legal aid and legal services; and
	the promotion of reform and revision of English civil law.
	In addition the Department's responsibilities include the following:
	Law Commission
	Commonhold
	Immigration and Asylum appeals
	House of Lords reform
	Human Rights
	Freedom of Information
	Data Protection and data sharing policy
	Policy on Electoral Law
	Policy on Referendums
	Policy on Party Funding
	Tribunals policy
	Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
	Public Guardianship Office
	Official Solicitor's Office
	Statutory Publications Office
	In addition, the Department will be responsible for the overall devolution settlement and the Scotland and Wales Offices have become a part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, while retaining their distinct identities and with civil servants in those Offices reporting to their respective junior Ministers and Secretaries of State.
	The Secretary of State is also responsible for:
	The Northern Ireland Court Service
	The Land Registry
	National Archives
	The policy responsibilities of the Department for services for children and their families, including responsibility for CAFCASS, are transferring to the new Minister for Children in the Department for Education and Skills.

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Oliver Heald: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs will receive the pension entitlement of the Lord Chancellor (a) during the planned transition period before the proposed abolition of the office and (b) subsequently, if the office is abolished; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: No. The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs has elected to receive only a salary and pension equivalent to that received by other Secretaries of State in the House of Lords.

English Devolution

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister which department is responsible for English devolution.

Tony Blair: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for regional and local government in England.

Intelligence and Security Committee Report

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to lay the Government's Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's annual report for 200203 before Parliament.

Tony Blair: I have today laid the Government response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's report before Parliament.

Official Spelling

Bob Russell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy that official (a) correspondence, (b) reports and (c) documentation from his office uses the English spelling of words where this differs from the US version.

Tony Blair: The published guidance from the Cabinet Office on the Handling of Ministerial and Other Correspondence and on Plain Written English, emphasise that appropriate arrangements should be in place to ensure the quality of all replies is high.

Regulatory Reform

Peter Pike: To ask the Prime Minister which Cabinet Minister has overall responsibility for regulatory reform.

Tony Blair: The Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) has lead responsibility for regulatory reform.

US Foreign Policy

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his Answer of 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 870W, on US foreign policy, if he will list the occasions since January 2001 when he has disagreed with US foreign policy.

Tony Blair: Examples of issues where I have publicly disagreed with the United States include on steel tariffs 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 17, and on trade 19 March 2003, Official Report, column 935.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many hospitals in Afghanistan have shortages of (a) nurses, (b) doctors, (c) drugs and (d) beds.

Hilary Benn: An Afghanistan Health Resources Assessment was carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Health by Management Sciences for Health in 2002. This national survey gathered information about the location and facilities of hospitals and health centres, services provided, human resources and rehabilitation needs.
	The survey identified 21 regional/national hospitals, 41 provincial hospitals and 114 district hospitals. 87 per cent. of the 1,038 hospitals and health facilities identified are presently operating.
	The survey identified 8,445 beds in 210 health facilities (approximately 1 bed for every 2,500 people). Most of these beds are located in urban areasKabul in particular. On average, developing countries have 2.7 hospital beds per 1,000 population. The survey suggests that Afghanistan has 0.4 of a bed per 1,000 population.
	There are approximately 2,300 doctors (approximately 0.1 per 1,000 population), (average rate in developing countries 1.1). There are massive shortages of nurses and qualified birth attendants: doctors make up over a quarter of all health workers. 40 per cent. of facilities providing basic health care have no female health provider. This is extremely important in this largely conservative Muslim country with strong taboos against female patients being treated by male health providers.
	Over 80 per cent. of health facilities currently receive external support for drugs and supplies. The availability of five of the most important primary care level drugs was good, at 90 per cent.

Iraq

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development who will be responsible for the appointment of Iraqi delegates to the interim Iraqi Administration.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	We are committed to ensuring that the development of the political process in Iraq, including the formation of the interim Administration, takes place in accordance with UNSCR 1483. Consultations are continuing on the political process between coalition representatives including the UK Special Representative for Iraq, representatives of Iraq interest groups and political parties and the UN Special Representative.

Parliamentary Questions

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what procedures her Department employs to ensure the swift reply to parliamentary questions.

Hilary Benn: DFID attach great importance to answering PQs accurately and within recommended deadlines.
	PQs are drafted in line with central Cabinet Office guidelines entitled Guidance to Officials on Drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions. Copies of this guidance are available in the Libraries of the House.
	DFID also has detailed internal guidance in place for all staff on how PQs should be answered. We have a Parliamentary Unit that operates tracking and monitoring procedures to ensure that PQs are allocated promptly to the appropriate drafting officials and processed within pre-set deadlines.
	Every effort is made to handle PQs with the highest priority, but we also want to make sure that answers are as complete, informative and consistent as possible for Members. This means that deadlines for reply may not be met on every occasion.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Agency Workers Helpline

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how the telephone number of the Department's helpline for agency workers is advertised;
	(2)  how many calls the Department's helpline for agency workers has taken in the past 12 months; and how many of these calls emanated from workers in west Yorkshire.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answers 18 June 2003
	We have advertised DTI's Employment Agency Standards (EAS) helpline in various publications, including specialist trade newspapers and magazines and on the DTI's website. In addition, information booklets, leaflets and posters, which contain details of the EAS Inspectorate and Helpline telephone number, are issued to interested organisations, such as Citizen Advice Bureaux, Jobcentres, AC AS, the relevant trade associations and trade unions.
	Between 1 June 2002 and 31 May 2003 the DTI's Employment Agency Standards helpline received 8,965 telephone inquiries. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by geographical region.

BCCI

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met the liquidators of BCCI.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My officials met one of the liquidators of BCCI on 4 March 2003 to review the progress of the liquidation.

BCCI

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will meet the honourable Member for Leicester, East and a delegation of creditors to discuss the cost of liquidation of BCCI.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No. The costs of the liquidation of BCCI are a matter for the liquidators, the liquidation committee of creditors or the court.

BCCI

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost of the liquidation of BCCI is.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The costs of the liquidation of BCCI in England and Wales totalled 686 million as at 15 January 2003.

Biomass Renewable Projects

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to develop biomass renewable projects.

Stephen Timms: The Government are committed to biomass and have launched a number of programmes to support and promote bioenergy in the UK.
	The Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme (BCGS), joint-funded by DTI and the New Opportunities Fund and worth 66 million, will support the early deployment of biomass-fired technology and builds on support made available under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO). The BCGS, launched in February 2002, has proven very popular and has become over-subscribed with funds now fully allocated. In total, 21 projects across the UK will be supported by the Scheme, covering heat, combined heat and power and electricity generation from biomass.
	DEFRA, as part of its England Rural Development Programme, has made available 29 million for the establishment of energy crops including short rotation coppice (SRC) and miscanthus under the Energy Crops Scheme. A further 3.5 million is to be made available for the establishment of infrastructure to facilitate the harvest and supply of energy crops to the power generator.
	The Woodland Grant Scheme and the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme, co-ordinated by the Forestry Commission in mainland UK and Forest Services in Northern Ireland, provides grants to create and manage woodland, which can help in the production of wood fuel. The Woodland Grant Scheme also supports the establishment of SRC in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	The Clear Skies Initiative, a 10 million grants programme launched by DTI in February 2003, supports eligible community and domestic wood fired heating projects.
	Biomass is also supported through the Renewables Obligation, which came into effect on 1 April 2002, and electricity supplied by dedicated biomass plant or through co-firing will qualify for Renewable Obligation Certificates and be exempt from the Climate Change Levy (CCL).
	Finally, grants are available for research, development and demonstration projects through the DTI's 19 million New and Renewable Energy Programme. There are two calls for proposals to the Programme each year. Work on improving the yield and pest resistance of energy crops and developing advanced conversion technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis has progressed through the Programme.
	The Government will continue to review the level of support given to biomass and explore new ideas and opportunities to further promote this renewable energy resource in the UK.

Company Insolvency

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to amend legislation protecting the pay and conditions of employees in cases of companies being taken into administration.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government will be reviewing the existing employment protection afforded to employees of insolvent employers when implementing the changes arising from the European Council Directive 2002/74/EC amending the European Council Directive 80/987/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer, which are to be implemented by October 2005.

Company Insolvency

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to limit the costs charged by liquidators in insolvency cases.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has no plans to intervene in the administration of insolvent estates by seeking to limit the fees charged by insolvency practitioners. This is primarily a matter for the creditors of the insolvent estate. The Insolvency Rules 1986 make provision for the court to review the amount where, in appropriate circumstances, an application is made by either the creditors or the practitioner.
	All insolvency practitioners are required to follow the guidance on remuneration contained in Statement of Insolvency Practice number 9, which was amended in December 2002.

Post Office

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the managers of Royal Mail Group regarding the company's policy of transferring the transport of mail freight from rail to road and air; and if she will press the Royal Mail Group to review the decision to terminate its contract with EWS.

Stephen Timms: The Department meets Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including progress on the transport review. That review envisaged a continuing role for rail freight. Royal Mail has, following protracted negotiations with EWS, concluded that it cannot now proceed on the basis it originally intended, for reasons of cost.
	The Government regret the loss of business for rail freight but stands by its policy that Royal Mail must have the freedom it needs to operate genuinely commercially.

San Francisco Consulate

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact on British business of the proposed sale of the consular residence in San Francisco by the Foreign Office.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	We do not expect any significant impact. The new residence will provide good support for the commercial activities of the Consulate General. We are also looking to improve the facilities of the Consulate General office located in the business district, by adding a meeting room for briefings and receptions.

Nuclear Industry

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has held with (a) the Department for Education and Skills and (b) individual universities on the development of a workforce equipped with the necessary skill levels for the nuclear industry.

Stephen Timms: Following publication in December 2002 of the report of the 'Nuclear Skills Group', activity has focused on the development of proposals for a new Sector Skills CouncilCOGENTcovering the nuclear industry, oil and gas, petroleum and polymers. My officials have had meetings with DfES as part of that process and work closely with DfES colleagues on the approach to sector skills generally. Officials have also been in discussion with a number of Universities about the provision of relevant courses to ensure that skills relevant to the nuclear industry are available for the future. These discussions are continuing.

Wind Farms

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many wind farms are in operation in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland;
	(2)  how many sites have been identified for future development of wind farms in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland (i) this year and (ii) in each of the next three years.

Stephen Timms: holding answers 18 June 2003
	The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) prepares a quarterly analysis on the status of the UK wind energy industry to keep track of the rapid growth being experienced in this sector.
	A list of all grid-connected wind power projects in the UK can be found within the BWEA website at http://www.bwea.com/map/list.html
	The BWEA's quarterly analysis for April 2003 includes a list of new wind power projects due for construction in the UK in the coming years. This can be found within the BWEA website at http://www.bwea.com/planmng/1Q.html

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Asylum and Immigration Cases

Peter Viggers: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what the expenditure on legal aid relating to judicial reviews of asylum and immigration cases was in (a) 200001, (b) 200102 and (c) 200203; and what the budget is for 200304.

David Lammy: Expenditure on legal aid relating to judicial reviews of asylum and immigration cases was: 3 million in 200001, 3.5 million in 200102, and 4.9 million in 200203. There is no separate budget for legal aid for judicial reviews. The Legal Services Commission are required to fund all those cases which meet the criteria for funding.

SCOTLAND

British Electricity Trading andTransmission Arrangements

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the costs to Scottish energy producers of the delay in legislation for a UK market in electricity through the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements.

Alistair Darling: The Government remain committed to bringing forward legislation, as soon as parliamentary time allows, to enable the implementation of the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements by April 2005.

Constitutional Affairs

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff within the Department for Constitutional Affairs will be dedicated to Scottish affairs.

Alistair Darling: Staff of the Scotland Office, including staff working for the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, have now become part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs for administrative purposes.

Discussions (First Minister)

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his predecessor's discussions with the First Minister on 16 June 2003.

Alistair Darling: Lord Falconer, the First Minister and I had a discussion on a range of issues.

Ferries

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions her Department has had with (a) P  O and (b) Stena Line on the employment implications of a merger on the North Channel crossing from Loch Ryan ports to Northern Ireland.

Alistair Darling: In May 2003, P  O and Stena Line announced proposals affecting other Irish Sea ferry services but retaining separate services on their routes out of Loch Ryan to Larne and Belfast. Stena Line also announced at the same time that an earlier loch had been superseded by a proposal for joint operation of expanded port facilities at Cairnryan. My Department has not had any discussions with the companies.

Local Government Elections

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans she has to review the breadth of the franchise at local government elections in Scotland.

Alistair Darling: There are no plans to review the breadth of the franchise at local government elections in Scotland.

Scottish Executive

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what revised guidance has been issued to Government Departments in respect of their dealings with the Scottish Executive since 12 June 2003.

Alistair Darling: I shall publish revised guidance in due course.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the UK is spending on combating the opium trade in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The UK has committed around 70 million over the next three financial years to fund activities aimed directly at combating the trade in opiates in Afghanistan. The elimination of the drugs trade in Afghanistan will, however, also depend upon broader reconstruction of the economy, law enforcement capacity and political life. In support of these essential contributions to successful drugs elimination, the UK has pledged around 200 million for 200207.

Civil Servants

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many new entrants to the Civil Service were employed in his Department in each of the last five years; and how many in each year were aged 50 or over.

Bill Rammell: The number of new entrants aged 50 or over, employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are listed in the table.
	
		
			  New entrants Over 50 
		
		
			 199899 204 7 
			 19992000 237 11 
			 200001 275 10 
			 200102 409 22 
			 200203 397 21

Colombia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is on the agenda of the aid donors meeting on Colombia to be held on 10 July 2003; and whether military and security assistance to Colombia will be discussed.

Bill Rammell: The London meeting on 10 July 2003 will discuss the political support that the international community might offer Colombia. The Colombian Government, and representatives from the UN and civil society have been invited to make presentations. Military and security assistance are not on the agenda.

Gibraltar

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his policy to seek joint sovereignty over Gibraltar with the Government of Spain.

Jack Straw: I refer the right hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 12 July 2002, Official Report, column 1165.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the High Court's statement on whether the situation of detainees in Camp X-Ray complies with fundamental principles recognised by international law.

Chris Mullin: The issue of the detainees' rights under international law is linked, in part, to the question of their status, which depends on all the facts of the individual cases. However, whatever their status, the detainees are entitled to humane treatment and, if prosecuted, a fair trial. We have made this clear to the United States authorities. They have assured us they will treat the detainees humanely and consistently with the principles of the Geneva Conventions.
	We have been pressing the US to move forward with the process of determining the detainees' future and shall continue to do so.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the US Government about their plans for the future of detainees held at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay.

Chris Mullin: Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the United States authorities about the British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. We have been pressing the United States authorities to move forward with the process of determining the future of the British detainees. We shall continue to do so.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal (a) protection and (b) status the British citizens detained in Camp X-Ray have.

Chris Mullin: The question of the legal status of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay under international law is complex and has to be considered in the light of the facts relating to each individual detainee.
	We believe that, whatever their status, the detainees are entitled to humane treatment, and if prosecuted, a fair trial. The United States has assured us it will treat the detainees humanely and consistently with the principles of the Geneva Conventions. We have been pressing the US to move forward with the process of determining the future of the British detainees. We shall continue to do so.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from the US Government on when the UK citizens held at Guantanamo Bay will be (a) charged and (b) released.

Chris Mullin: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that my ministerial colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mrs. Lawrence) on 17 June 2003, Official Report, column 142W.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US Government about expediting the process of determining what is to happen to the UK citizens held at Guantanamo Bay.

Chris Mullin: We remain in regular contact with the United States, at both ministerial and official level, about the situation of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. We have been pressing the US to move forward with the process of determining the future of the British detainees and shall continue to do so.

Guantanamo Bay

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the US Administration on access by British officials to UK citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Chris Mullin: We remain in regular contact with the United States, at both ministerial and official level, about the situation of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. British officials have visited the British nationals on five occasions, most recently in April 2003. We were the first country to visit its nationals in Guantanamo Bay. The United States has assured us that it will treat the detainees humanely and consistently with the principles of the Geneva Convention.

Guantanamo Bay

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British juveniles are being detained in Guantanamo Bay.

Chris Mullin: There are no British juveniles detained at Guantanamo Bay. All the British detainees are over the age of 18.

Iraq

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 19 May 2003, Official Report, column 553W, if he will make a statement on the range of Iraqi opinion, among opposition and exile groups, and those newly liberated, who were (a) represented at the meeting in Nassiriya on 15 April 2003 and (b) considered and not invited; and for what reasons the latter group were not invited.

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answers that my ministerial colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) gave him on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 287W and 5 June 2003, Official Report, column 553W.

Palestinian Occupied Territories

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many new settlements he estimates have been built in the Palestinian Occupied Territories since 1993 to 2003.

Mike O'Brien: At least two major new settlements have been established within the expanded municipal boundaries of East Jerusalem. Two new settlements have been established in the West Bank. We have concerns about another four settlements in the West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip. In addition, we estimate that around 108 settlement outposts have been established in the period 19932003, some as far as 2 km from existing buildings. The combination of expanding settlements, the Eastern Ring Road and Route 80 will effectively isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank. Other settler roads (Routes 55, 57 and 505) divide the West Bank in an east-west direction. Settlers control 42 per cent. of the West Bank and 15 per cent. of the Gaza Strip.
	These figures are the most authoritative available, as it is difficult to get accurate statistics about settlement activity. In particular, the number of settlement outposts is fluid. The Israel Defence Forces began dismantling a number of outposts on 9 June 2003; most of which are uninhabited. Settlers have vowed to establish more. We are monitoring the situation closely.
	For a more detailed assessment of the impact of settlement building in the Occupied Territories, I refer my hon. Friend to the report, Israeli Settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary presented to the Foreign Affairs Committee early this year. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Consular Residences

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the proposed new consular residence in Presidio Terrace, San Francisco, is governed by restrictions that will prevent its use for consular functions; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: It will be possible to use the new residence for normal consular functions.

Consular Residences

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 647W, when the present Permanent Under-Secretary visited the property; whether the PUS-designate visited the current Consul General's house; and when he visited the new property.

Bill Rammell: The present PUS, Sir Michael Jay, was able to see the house when he visited San Francisco, shortly before taking up his appointment in January 2002. He has not visited the new property.
	The previous PUS, Sir John Kerr, to whom I also referred in my answer on 9 June 2003, had previously been Her Majesty's Ambassador in Washington and was familiar with the current property.

United Nations Security Council

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which states have signed bilateral impunity agreements following Resolution 1422 of the United Nations Security Council; and how many have ratified them.

Bill Rammell: The US has publicly announced that the following 29 states have signed bilateral non-surrender agreements (to the International Criminal Court) with the US: Romania, Israel, East Timor, Tajikistan, Dominican Republic, Palau, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Micronesia, Gambia, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Djibouti, Tuvalu, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Nauru, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tonga, The Maldives, Ghana, Madagascar, Albania, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzogovina and Bolivia. A further six have signed and ratified an agreement: Marshall Islands, Uzbekistan, Honduras, Georgia, Sierra Leone and Gabon.
	The UK has been approached by the US with a view to signing such an agreement. We have made clear that we could only sign an agreement that was consistent with the ICC Statute and the Guiding Principles agreed by the EU to govern such agreements. We await further detailed proposals.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Claims/Payments

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the duration of claims of (a) those on incapacity benefit, (b) those on other disability benefits, (c) lone parents on income support and (d) others on income support was in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Benefit Claims/Payments

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 387, on the payment of benefits, how many pensioners have (a) received invitations to change to direct payment, (b) responded and (c) chosen to be paid via a (i) bank account, (ii) basic bank account and (iii) post office card account; and if he will make a statement on the nature of the responses received from those pensioners who did not opt for a post office card account.

Malcolm Wicks: As at 6 June 2003, 148,148 pensioners have been invited to change to Direct Payment and 86,828 have responded so far. Of these, 42,241 pensioners have provided bank or building society account details (we do not distinguish between basic and current accounts) and 42,603 have requested a post office card account.
	The Department is providing all customers with the information they need on all of their account options, including those that can be used at post office branches. It is for customers themselves to decide which type of account will best meet their needs and circumstances.

Carers Premium

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 3 June 2003, ref 115917, what the cost would be and how many beneficiaries there are of extending the carers premium to those with an established entitlement to carers allowance who are in receipt of a basic state pension, not eligible for the minimum income guarantee, and have no entitlement to other benefits that would disqualify the beneficiary by virtue of the overlapping benefit rules.

Maria Eagle: A carer premium can only be awarded as part of the minimum income guarantee (MIG) and would therefore not be available to those who are not eligible for MIG. However, if an amount equivalent to the carer premium was paid to all those over state pension age with an underlying entitlement to carers allowance, not eligible for MIG the anticipated cost for one year would be 100 million, with 80,000 gainers.
	Notes:
	Costs are rounded to the nearest ten million and caseloads to the nearest ten thousand.
	Source:
	December 2002 100 per cent. extract of administrative data from the CA computer system and November 2002 IS administrative data.

Child Support Agency

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his target date is for implementing the new system of assessment on all cases within the CSA.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) on 22 May 2003, Official Report, columns 91819W.

Employment Assistance

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on how carers can be assisted into new learning and work opportunities;
	(2)  what strategies he plans to assist people with disabilities into training and work opportunities.

Maria Eagle: Carers and people with disabilities can obtain information about how to access training and learning opportunities through Jobcentre Plus. We are ensuring that the benefit system promotes work where possible for disabled people and carers and, where they meet the eligibility criteria, they can access a wide range of Government employment programmes.
	There are several initiatives within Jobcentre Plus aimed specifically at helping disabled people to overcome the labour market barriers they may face, including the Access to Work and Work Preparation programmes. New Deal for Disabled People, through its network of Job Brokers across England, Scotland and Wales, is also proving successful in helping disabled people achieve lasting paid employment.
	In addition, the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Helping people into employment (Cm 5690) sets out a new strategy for enabling people on incapacity benefits to move into work, and so become and remain independent. The Government's response and action plan (CM 5830), published on 10 June 2003, gives details of the proposals we are taking forward.

European Social Fund

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the projects in the South-West Bedfordshire constituency on which European Social Fund money has been spent in the last three years, and the amounts spent.

Maria Eagle: European Social Fund (ESF) projects usually operate across a number of constituencies. The following table lists projects in Bedfordshire which have been awarded ESF money since 2000 and which may include beneficiaries from south-west Bedfordshire.
	
		Table: ESF Projects Approved, 200003
		
			 Organisation Project Amount approved () 
		
		
			 Alcohol Services for the Community (LSC CFO) Learning for Change 60,593 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton CCTE Enhance 74,898 
			 Bedfordshire College Way to Work Programme 84,644 
			 Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Foyer Stepping Stones 35,859 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton IAG Partnership (LSC CFO) Increasing Quality IAG Services 91,000 
			 Bedfordshire Rural Communities (LSC CFO) Investing in your people 163,000 
			 Bedfordshire Rural Communities (LSC CFO) Management Development 37,992 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire  Luton Local Management Group 2001 15,213 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire  Luton Local Management Group 2002 14,297 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire  Luton Local Management Group 18,458 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 1.1 100,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 1 .2 185,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 2.2 350,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 3.1 960,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 4.2 160,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Co-financing Measure 5.1 337,000 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Business Environmental Training Initiative 31,715 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Central Technical Assistance 59,239 
			 Bedfordshire County Council Going To Work 122,659 
			 Bedfordshire County Council SPICE 202,050 
			 Better Prospects (LSC CFO) Technobabble 91,200 
			 Business Link Bedfordshire and Luton ICT Multi Skills Programme 183,300 
			 Cambridge On-line Learning (LSC CFO) Developing Managers 50,400 
			 Chamber Business (LSC CFO) Enhanced Workforce Development 179,000 
			 Chamber Business Luton (EEDA CFO) Choices in Care 243,184 
			 Crabtree Development Consultants (LSC CFO) Building for the future 49,910 
			 Crabtree Development Consultants (LSC CFO) Caring for Tomorrow 69,735 
			 East of England Development Agency ASPEN 262,140 
			 East of England Development Agency Luton Opportunities Phase 2 276,338 
			 East of England Development Agency Luton Opportunity Phase 1 375,989 
			 Education Business Enterprise (LSC CFO) Education and Business Enterprise 37,930 
			 EEF Mid Anglian Association (LSC CFO) Achievement Partnership 77,057 
			 Jobcentre Plus Co-financing Measures 695,160 
			 Learning for Life Bedfordshire and Luton (LSC CFO) Empowerment for continued employment 128,013 
			 Learning for Life Bedfordshire and Luton (LSC CFO) Workforce at RiskGuidance Support 136,006 
			 Learning for Life Bedfordshire and Luton Community Advice and Guidance 87,256 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton LSC BOOST 122,399 
			 Macro East Anglia (LSC CFO) Mentor and Youth Activity 125,999 
			 New Bedfordshire Training Project Physical Ability Millennium 74,822 
			 New Bedfordshire Training Project Physical Ability 2000 20,203 
			 Opps (LSC CFO) Development skills in the retail sector 56,550 
			 Protech Training (LSC CFO) Learning Leaders 58,495 
			 Protech Training (LSC CFO) Second Chance 52,210 
			 Protech Training (LSC CFO) Skillsbase 154,770 
			 Qi Associates (LSC CFO) Making Business Better 59,000 
			 South Bedfordshire Adult Education (LSC CFO) Link up to Learn 95,855 
			 Teevan Consulting Network (LSC CFO) Results Driven Workforce Development 99,000 
			 Trade Union Learning Link (LSC CFO) Bedfordshire  Luton Trade Union Learning Fund 142,500 
			 University of Luton Community Parents Programme 163,691 
			 University of Luton Film and Media Training Project 80,882 
			 University of Luton Graduates with Dyslexia 73,490 
			 University of Luton Griffin 425,731 
			 University of Luton Language for e Business 2 1,689,612 
			 University of Luton Languages for competitiveness 1,064,618 
			 University of Luton Languages for e business 287,113 
			 University of Luton Law for Life 153,292 
			 University of Luton Leadership for Managers 367,911 
			 University of Luton New Skills for Information Age II 379,213 
			 University of Luton Next Step for Business 30,400 
			 University of Luton Partnership Learning Centre 30,600 
			 University of Luton Phoenix Project 227,357 
			 University of Luton Toolkits For Competitiveness 02 409,268 
			 University of Luton Webstep 3 307,296 
			 University of Luton Webstep2 307,106 
			 University of Luton (EEDA CFO) Broadband in Business 156,205 
			 University of Luton (EEDA CFO) E-skills-in-company 157,454 
			 Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire (EEDA CFO) Working for Wildlife Trainee 53,005 
			 Workbase Employment Service (LSC CFO) Learning in the Community 34,500 
			 Befrienders Global Grants award 3,500 
			 Dale Social Welfare Group Global Grants award 3,406 
			 Downside Yoga Global Grants award 3,575 
			 Dunstable and District Citizens Advice Bureau Global Grants award 2,200 
			 Homes for Homeless Global Grants award 4,500 
			 Hospice at Home Volunteers Global Grants award 5,000 
			 LCET Global Grants award 824 
			 Leighton Buzzard Mayday Trust Global Grants award 465 
			 Luton  Bedfordshire Youth Association Global Grants award 10,000 
			 Multiple Sclerosis Society Global Grants award 1,000 
			 Parkinson's Disease Society Global Grants award 2,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	LSC CFO = Bedfordshire and Luton Learning and Skills Council Co-financing Organisation project.
	EEDA = East of England Development Agency Co-financing Organisation project.
	The Global Grants programme is operated by Bedfordshire and Luton Learning and Skills Council and provides awards of funding to small organisations. The organisations listed are based in South Bedfordshire.

Local Government Finance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many council tax benefit claimants live in properties in Band F and above where council tax benefit is not restricted, broken down by (a) Government Office region, (b) type of tenure and (c) claimants who are (i) pensioners and (ii) non-pensioners.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Number of recipients 
		
		
			 Council tax benefit recipients in property bands F, G and H where council tax benefit is not restrictedby Government Office RegionMay 2001  
			 North East (25)1,000 
			 North West (25)1,000 
			 Yorks and the Humber (26) 
			 East Midlands (26) 
			 West Midlands (25)1,000 
			 East (25)1,000 
			 London 7,000 
			 South East 3,000 
			 South West (25)1,000 
			 Wales (25)1,000 
			 Scotland (25)2,000 
			 Total 19,000 
			  
			 Council tax benefit recipients in property bands F, G and H where council tax benefit is not restrictedby tenureMay 2001  
			 LA tenant (25)1,000 
			 Private regulated (excluding RSL) (25) 1,000 
			 Private deregulated (excluding RSL) (25) 1,000 
			 RSL tenants (25) 1,000 
			 Owner-occupier 7,000 
			 Tenure unknown 9,000 
			 Total 19,000 
			  
			 Council tax benefit recipients aged 60 and over(27) and under 60(28)in property bands F, G and H where council tax benefit is not restrictedMay 2001  
			 Age 60 and over 13,000 
			 Under 60 6,000 
			 Total 19,000 
		
	
	(25) Figures under 2,500 are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be used only as a guide to the situation.
	(26) Data are negligible.
	(27) 60 and over refers to cases where the benefit recipient and/or their partner is aged 60 and over.
	(28) Under 60 refers to cases where the benefit recipient and their partner are aged under 60.
	Notes:
	1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. The data refer to households claiming housing benefit which may be a single person, a couple or a family. More than one benefit household can live in one property, for example two or more adults in a flat or house-share arrangement.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
	4. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	5. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	6. Figures exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2001.

Pension Credit

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for the pension credit have been received from pensioners in Scotland broken down by (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. For information about applications for pension credit generally, I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) on 9 June 2003, Official Report, columns 39495W.

Pensions

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with other Governments in protecting final salary pension schemes; and if he plans to introduce a compulsory scheme of insurance for the protection of employees of insolvent firms;
	(2)  what insurance schemes he plans to introduce to protect final salary pension schemes.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department for Work and Pensions has carried out research into compensation schemes that protect final salary pension schemes in other countries including United States, Finland, Germany, and Japan.
	Departmental officials visited the US to explore their scheme (the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation) and reported their findings back to the Secretary of State. There has been ongoing correspondence between the Departments officials and their counterparts in the US. This is because the US pensions system, and their corporate structure more generally, is most similar to the UK position.
	As a result of research into schemes in other countries, discussions with US counterparts, and the strong support expressed by respondents for this option in the Pensions Green Paper Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement (Cm 5677), we decided to introduce a compulsory compensation scheme for the protection of employees of insolvent firms.
	On June 11 2003 the Secretary of State announced our decision in the House, and we published an Action plan: Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirementAction on occupational pensions (Cm 5835) setting out a package of measures to strengthen protection for pension scheme members and ease the burden on companies running schemes.
	We plan to establish a new independent organisation called the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) in order to protect members of defined benefit pension schemes whose sponsoring employer has become insolvent. Where the pension scheme has insufficient assets to meet the PPF guarantee, the compensation scheme will pay the guaranteed level of benefits to scheme members as they fall due.
	The PPF will be funded by a levy on all defined benefit pension schemes. The levy will contain both a flat rate and a risk-based component, based on an assessment of the degree of underfunding in the particular scheme. Those schemes that are most underfunded will therefore have to pay a higher rate.
	Pensioners will be guaranteed to receive 100 per cent. of their pension, and non-pensioners will be guaranteed to receive 90 per cent. of the pension they have accrued.
	A cap will be introduced for non-pensioners so that any incentive for Directors to force their company into bankruptcy in order to get their pension is minimised.

Pensions

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his response of 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 701W, 
	(1)  whether his Department has conducted research to assess the public understanding of declines in private pension income that normally occur with increased longevity;
	(2)  whether his Department has conducted research to assess the public's attitudes towards (a) how long they are likely to live on retirement and (b) how much income they are likely to have during their retirement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has not carried out research to assess the public understanding of the relationship between private pension income and increased longevity.
	Regarding research on public attitudes, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 21 May 2003, Official Report, columns 79899W. That research on attitudes to pensions and financial planning for retirement examined how long people of working age expected to remain retired, their income, pension provision and sources of income in retirement, and what they considered to be an adequate retirement income. A report is due to be published in July and, in accordance with normal practice, a copy will be placed in the Library.
	Additionally, a major cross-government study to which the Department contributesthe English Longitudinal Study of Ageingis following a sample of people aged 50 and over for a number of years. The survey collects detailed information about income and assets and asks participants about the probability of their income keeping up with inflation. Over time this study will shed light on perceptions of changes in income as the population ages. A first report from the study is due in December 2003.

Pensions

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his response of 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 701W, what conclusions his Department has made about whether private pension income declines with longevity.

Malcolm Wicks: On average, older pensioners receive less income from all sources than younger pensioners. This is illustrated in the following table. There are two main reasons for the difference in occupational pension income. First, the rapid rise in occupational pension coverage in the late 1950s and 1960s has been more beneficial for the younger of today's pensioners. Secondly, before retirement the value of occupational pensions is broadly linked with earnings growth over time. After retirement the value of pensions in payment is broadly linked to prices. Other things being equal, an older pensioner who has been retired for longer will, therefore, have a lower occupational pension than the equivalent younger pensioner.
	Information showing how incomes change over time at the individual or household level requires data on the same individuals over time. The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing is following a sample of people aged 50 and over for a number of years. The survey collects detailed information about income and assets and, in due course, will provide up-to-date information on how incomes from different sources, including, occupational and personal pensions, change overtime at the individual level. A report from the first wave of the study is due in December 2003 but information about changes over time will only be available after the second wave.
	
		Average income of pensioner units by source of income and age group --  per week
		
			  Pensioner units where the head is under 75 Pensioner units where the head is 75 or over 
		
		
			 Gross income 280 217 
			
			 Benefit income 129 127 
			 Occupational pension 78 56 
			 Investment income 37 27 
			 Earnings 33 5 
			 Other income 3 2 
			
			 Net income (before housing costs) 236 190 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All pensioner units are defined as: single (non-cohabiting people over the age of state pension age (65 and over for men, 60 and over for women) and couples (married or cohabiting) where the man is over the state pension age.
	2. Income from occupational pensions does not include income from personal pensions; the latter is included under investment income
	3. All incomes are shown as  per week and at 200001 prices.
	Source:
	The Pensioners' Incomes Series 200001

Post Office Card Accounts

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customers have (a) been invited to take part in direct payment and (b) failed to respond to such an invitation, in respect of each benefit.

Maria Eagle: As at 6 June 2003, 2,800,000 customers have been invited to convert to Direct Payment.
	706,000 customers have yet to respond.
	Pensions and Jobcentre Plus customers began their conversion process with controlled pilots. Their full conversion commenced on 1 April 2003.

Poverty

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to change the definition of poverty he uses.

Malcolm Wicks: Poverty is a complex and multi-dimensional problem. The fourth Opportunity for all report (Cm 5598) sets out our strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents the latest information on the indicators used to monitor progress against our strategy.
	Specifically on child poverty, we launched Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation document in April 2002. We received over 80 detailed written responses to the consultation and have gathered feedback from workshops in London and Edinburgh with academics and organisations interested in child poverty measurement. We have also organised workshops in partnership with organisations such as the Children's Society, Barnardo's, Children in Wales and the European Anti-Poverty Networkto gather the views of children, young people and adults with direct experience of poverty.
	Measuring Child Poverty Consultation: preliminary conclusions was published in May 2003. This outlines recommendations and next steps based on a thorough analysis of the responses to the consultation. The report states that further technical work is necessary before finalising any new measure of child poverty and that we intend to publish final conclusions by the end of 2003.
	All reports are available in the Library.

Women's Pensions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he has taken to ensure that women who paid the married woman's national insurance contribution will receive a full pension.

Maria Eagle: The married women who opted to pay reduced rate contributions made an informed choice. They were required to give written notice of their decision on a form attached to a leaflet. The leaflet went to great lengths to describe the consequences of that decision and required them to sign a declaration that they had read and understood the leaflet. Employers could not make this decision on behalf of their employees. Women who chose to pay reduced rate national insurance contributions were given a certificate to give to their employer. An employer was not allowed to deduct reduced rate national insurance contributions without this certificate. It would be unfair to those married women who chose to pay the full rate contribution to retrospectively put married women who paid the reduced rate contribution in the same position.
	All married women are able to get a basic state pension based on their husband's contributions of 60 per cent. of his entitlement once both have reached state pension age and have claimed their state pension.
	In the recent pensions Green Paper: 'Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement' we have proposed looking at how best to ensure that women are aware of their pension position and the choices they make.
	We recognise that the majority of pensioners are women and are committed to ensuring that our pension reforms improve women's pension rights. We have already done much to help. The introduction of stakeholder pensions, State Second Pension, winter fuel payments, improvements to the minimum income guarantee and, from this October, pension credit are, or will be, of particular help to women. We are also extending home responsibilities protection to foster carers to help protect their basic state pension entitlement whilst they are doing this valuable job. This will particularly benefit women since they form the majority of foster carers.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Supported Living Schemes

David Cameron: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the Government issued guidance to providers about supported living; when the deadline for funding such schemes is; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: A considerable amount of guidance has been issued to local authorities and providers on the Supporting People programme, which may be found on the SPKweb www.spkweb.org.uk. This guidance has been being issued over the last two years. The programme went live on 1 April, following the closure of the Transitional Housing Benefit Scheme. Local authorities were informed of the provisional amounts of funding in February 2003, and confirmation of final allocations is planned to take place in September following the receipt of further returns from authorities. Chief authorities are now responsible for Supporting People and will decide, following reviews of current provision, which types and levels of service should be provided locally.

Affordable Housing

Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable housing units have been built in each year since 1997 (a) with social housing grant, (b) with local authority social housing and (c) with no public funding (i) in England and (ii) in rural districts.

Keith Hill: The available information is presented in the following table.
	
		Affordable housing units built in England
		
			  Units funded through: 
			  (a) Housing Corporation Social Housing Grant (b) Local Authority Social Housing Grant 
		
		
			 199798   
			 Deep rural 1,128 894 
			 Mixed rural 4,172 2,427 
			 All rural authorities 5,300 3,321 
			 All authorities 29,551 10,161 
			 199899   
			 Deep rural 823 718 
			 Mixed rural 4,181 1,764 
			 All rural authorities 5,004 2,482 
			 All authorities 28,207 9,714 
			 19992000   
			 Deep rural 734 728 
			 Mixed rural 3,197 1,652 
			 All rural authorities 3,931 2,380 
			 All authorities 23,568 8,396 
			 200001   
			 Deep rural 802 478 
			 Mixed rural 3,190 1,532 
			 All rural authorities 3,992 2,010 
			 All authorities 20,867 8,081 
			 200102   
			 Deep rural 758 399 
			 Mixed rural 3,036 1,283 
			 All rural authorities 3,794 1,682 
			 All authorities 21,605 6,628 
		
	
	Note:
	Completions in respect of any schemes originally approved prior to 199697 involving both Housing Corporation and Local Authority Social Housing Grant support will be counted under both headings, but cannot be distinguished.
	Affordable housing schemes comprise those for rent (including Tariff, and Mixed Funded schemes); temporary social housing schemes (including MiniHag, and short-life housing); and shared or outright ownership schemes (including leasehold for the elderly).
	Source:
	Housing Corporation returns
	Information about the number of affordable housing units built without any form of public funding is not available.
	The Government have taken substantial measures to alleviate housing pressures in rural areas as part of the Rural White Paper and Sustainable Communities Plan.
	These include more than doubling the Housing Corporation's target for the number of approvals of homes in small rural settlements since 200001. The measures have increased the number of schemes in the pipeline and should start to flow through to an increased number of completed homes in rural areas over the next few years.
	We expect over 5,000 homes to be approved in small rural settlements alone between 200304 and 200506.
	Under the new regional arrangements it will be for Regional Housing Boards to consider rural housing needs in advising on the allocation of resources.

Arson

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homes were deliberately set on fire each day on average in each year from 1997 to 2001; and what the estimated cost to the fire service was in each year.

Nick Raynsford: The following table contains information on malicious fires in dwellings in the UK from 1997 to 2001. Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected.
	Information on the cost to the fire service is not available before 1999. The estimates in the table are derived from applying an average fire service response cost for domestic fires of 2,800 to the totals.
	
		Malicious fires in dwellings, UK, 19972001
		
			 Year Total Averageper day Estimated annual cost( million) 
		
		
			 1997 13,784 38  
			 1998 13,359 37  
			 1999 13,862 38 38.8 
			 2000 14,215 39 39.8 
			 2001 14,769 40 41.3 
		
	
	Note:
	Data for 2001 are provisional. The definition of dwelling locations include caravans, houseboats and other non-buildings used solely as permanent dwellings

Arson

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many malicious car fires occurred in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999; and what the estimated cost to the fire service was in each year.

Nick Raynsford: In the UK there were 36,403 malicious car fires in 1997, 42,659 in 1998 and 56,207 in 1999. Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected.
	Information on the cost to the fire service is not held centrally before 1999, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Applying an average fire service response cost for vehicle fires of 880 to each malicious car fire attended gives an estimated total cost for malicious car fires of 49.5 million in 1999.

Arson

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost to the UK economy was of arson in each year since 1997.

Nick Raynsford: Information regarding the cost to the UK economy of arson is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	For England and Wales the estimated total cost to the economy of arson in 1999, when information was collected centrally for the first time, was 2.1 billion. In 2000 it was estimated as 2.2 billion; the estimated costs for 2001 are being prepared and will be published in due course.

Bed and Breakfast

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Castle Point families were housed in bed and breakfasts (a) in each of the last five years for which figures exist and (b) on 1 April 2003.

Yvette Cooper: Information reported by Castle Point District Council to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the numbers of homeless households housed by the authority in bed and breakfast (including any hotel annexe accommodation where some or all basic facilities are shared) is as follows:
	
		Castle Point DC: Homeless households in bed and breakfast at end of quarter 
		
			  March June September December 
		
		
			 1997 14 0 12 6 
			 1998 10 3 1 6 
			 1999 n/r 46 34 n/r 
			 2000 41 18 32 22 
			 2001 n/r 12 10 n/r 
			 2002 20 22 17 n/r 
			 2003 6
		
	
	n/r = not reported.
	Note:
	Figures include households accommodated pending completion of inquiries by the local authority.
	Source:
	ODPM P1(E) housing returns (quarterly)
	Last year the Government announced a new commitment to ensure that by March 2004 no family with children will be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation other than in an emergency, and even then for no more than six weeks. Corresponding information has been collected since March 2002, as part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's monitoring of authorities' progress towards this target.
	
		Castle Point DC: Homeless households with dependent children or an expectant mother in bed and breakfast at end of month
		
			  Number Of which: resident more than six weeks 
		
		
			 2000   
			 March 16 not collected 
			 June 18 not collected 
			 September 15 not collected 
			 October 16 15 
			 November 17 n/r 
			 December 19 15 
			 2003 
			 January 23 19 
			 February 19 16 
			 March 6 3 
			 April 10 2 
			 May 12 4 
		
	
	Source:
	ODPM quarterly P1E returns; monthly monitoring returns (since October)

Departmental Website

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what actions he has taken or is taking to ensure that the websites of his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are accessible to partially sighted and blind people; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's web site (www.odpm.gov.uk) follows the Office of the e-Envoy's Guidelines for United Kingdom Government web sites to provide an accessible web site for partially sighted and blind people.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will soon be replacing its web site. The new site has been developed based on the Office of the e-Envoy's Guidelines but it has also been designed to take into consideration the way screen readers work by conducting rigorous screen reader testing using JAWS for Windows software. It has improved accessibility for partially sighted and blind people through the use of the access key system throughout the site on the most commonly used links. It has been rigorously tested so that the HTML conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative's AA standard. In addition, the site has been tested using the BOBBY analysing application, a well-known test of accessibility.
	Agencies and non-departmental bodies are encouraged to follow the Government guidelines.

E-Voting

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to include e-participation in future e-voting pilots.

Phil Hope: Working with the Electoral Commission, the Office of the e-Envoy and local authorities, our aim is to develop a wide range of e-democracy initiatives, both e-voting and e-participation. We are seeking how best at local level differing initiatives may be integrated both to engage and to better inform voters while maintaining the integrity and security of the ballot.
	For e-participation we are providing 2 million of pump-priming funding as part of our e-democracy national project, inviting bids from local authorities, and we will be pursuing e-voting in the light of the Electoral Commission's evaluation of the May 2003 pilots.

Graffiti

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the statutory undertakers about graffiti on their street furniture or other property; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The Home Office and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have lead responsibility on preventing and tackling graffiti. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with DEFRA and the Home Office to ensure effective co-ordination of our policies in this area and decide what further action may need to be taken.

Housing (Young People)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what advice he provides on obtaining housing for young people in housing need; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Under the homelessness legislation local authorities have a duty to provide advice and assistance about homelessness and the prevention of homelessness. This service must be available free of charge to anyone in their district, including young people in housing need. Last year, the Government extended the groups who have a priority need for accommodation under the legislation. The new groups include a number of young homeless people, including 16 and 17-year-olds, care leavers aged 18 to 20 and people over 20 who are vulnerable as a result of having been in care (except those for whom local social services authorities have responsibility).
	Through the July 2002 Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister issued guidance to housing authorities about discharging their duties under the homelessness legislation. The guidance emphasises that, in dealing with 16 and 17-year-olds who may have left home because of a temporary breakdown in their relationship with their family, local authorities should consider reconciliation with the family as a first response. It also highlights the fact that many young homeless applicants, particularly 16 and 17-year olds who are homeless and estranged from their family, will be vulnerable and in need of support. The guidelines also make it clear that housing authorities will need to recognise that accommodation solutions for this client group are likely to be unsuccessful if the necessary support is not provided and close liaison with social services and the Supporting People team will be essential.
	Advice on specialist services for homeless young people is also included in Homelessness StrategiesA good practice handbook issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in March 2002.
	Specialist Personal Advisers in the Connexions Service also play a key role in ensuring that those under 20 in housing need are linked into housing advice services. They should also advise other Personal Advisers working with young people in housing need. The former Rough Sleepers Unit worked closely with the Connexions Service to develop the Working together guidance highlighting the strategic links that the Connexions Service should make with local authority homelessness strategies and voluntary agencies working with young people in providing effective housing advice.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funds Shelter's National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS). NHAS is a secondary advice and support service provided by Shelter in partnership with the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and has been supported by Government since it was established in 1990. In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funds agencies such as Alone in London and Centrepoint who work with young people, to promote family mediation, re-establish contact and negotiate a return home or respite care.

HEALTH

Buprenorphine

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have for a trial of buprenorphine in (a) British prisons and (b) heroin addicts seeking to stabilise.

Stephen Ladyman: Buprenorphine is already included in the treatment protocols developed in conjunction with national health service services at eight prison service establishments. The prison service's standard for clinical services for substance misusers requires every establishment which receives prisoners from court to have detoxification guidelines in place for at least one of methadone, lofexidine, and dihydrocodeine. It also states that, as new evidence becomes available on the chemical management of detoxification or abstinence, establishments should develop further treatment guidelines which are in line with those available in the NHS. Prison health keeps the question of a formal trial of buprenorphine in prisons in England under review, but expects its use to develop at a similar pace to the growth in its use in the community.
	More generally, the National Treatment Agency (NTA) has a responsibility to maintain the research base and to prioritise and disseminate findings to enhance quality of care. Consideration of the use of buprenorphine forms part of the NTA's activity, including receiving advice from experts on prescribing issues. The NTA advocates a range of treatment options following adequate assessment of need and works with local drug action teams (DATs) to ensure an appropriate range of provision is developed locally.
	There is already a body of evidence for the efficacy of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid dependence. The level of evidence does not suggest that buprenorphine should replace methadone as a substitution treatment, but rather that buprenorphine should now be considered an evidence-based addition to the range of pharmacological maintenance treatments. Information from specialists indicates that there has been an increase in the use of buprenorphine in the United Kingdom as an alternative to methadone.

Supported Living Schemes

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the eligibility criteria are for supported living schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The Supporting People programme provides support for people to live independently in the community, or to sustain their capacity to do so, through packages of support agreed between the client and support provider. There is a wide range of types of support (sheltered housing, for homeless people, for people with learning difficulties, and others) some of which have formal eligibility criteria, and others of which have looser assessment and application procedures. The Supporting People programme does not provide grants to registered care establishments (unless such funding was being provided under previous arrangements, where it is transitionally permitted to be paid).

Accident and Emergency Patients

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of A and E patients were admitted, transferred or discharged in less than four hours in (a) England, (b) Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby and (c) Scunthorpe District General Hospital in the last year for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not available on an individual hospital site basis. In the third quarter of 200203, 78 per cent. of accident and emergency patients in England were admitted, transferred or discharged in less than four hours. In the same period, 88 per cent. of A and E patients at the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals National Health Service Trust were admitted, transferred or discharged in less than four hours.

Advocacy Groups

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and (b) representatives of the lottery funding bodies about securing funding for advocacy groups.

Stephen Ladyman: No discussions have taken place with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. It is for voluntary organisations to seek funding from other sources and other Government Departments, such as the community fund.
	The advocacy funding programme announced in Valuing People includes money to support development workers who work with existing advocacy groups to help them strengthen their services and also encourage the setting up of new ones. This could include giving advice on identifying possible funding sources.

Advocacy Groups

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Department has to fund citizens' advocacy groups, other than through the British Institute of Learning Disability; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: We announced in our report on learning disability, Making Change Happen (HC514-II), published in April 2003, that the implementation support fund would continue until March 2006. The fund will support the same areas of work as at present. The learning disability task force, which has members drawn from both the self and citizen advocacy movements, will be involved in discussions about the detailed use of the support fund.
	Mental health policies also focus on the use of advocacy. The draft Mental Health Bill, published on 25 June 2002, provides for the first time that specialist mental health advocacy must be available for all patients being treated under compulsory powers and their nominated persons. This new duty ensures that patients can have the help of specialist advocacy when it is most needed. There are also proposals in the draft Bill for safeguards, including access to advocacy, for some adult patients who have a long-term incapacity to consent and who are in a hospital or nursing home receiving treatment for a serious mental disorder.
	The Department is funding, to the value of 90,000 over three years, United Kingdom Advocacy Network (UKAN) to promote free and independent advocacy for every mental health service user; to keep user groups and advocacy projects in touch with each other; to promote the involvement of users in planning and running mental health services; and to develop standards in independent advocacy whereby they are establishing programmes of regional training courses for advocates. UKAN also employs a worker to work specifically on advocacy issues affecting black and minority ethnic groups.

Advocacy Groups

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to give adults with communications difficulties the right to representation by (a) a citizen's advocate and (b) another responsible individual; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: We consider it important that efforts are made by health and social care bodies to ensure that people with communications difficulties can make themselves understood and can understand what is being said to them. There are a number of ways of achieving this, including citizen advocacy, but we have no plans for imposing a particular pattern of service provision in this area.
	As part of the implementation of the Valuing People White Paper, we announced the creation of two new funds, the Implementation Support Fund and the Learning Disability Development Fund, to provide central support for key aspects of the strategy. Money from the Implementation Support Fund is being used to support and develop self and citizen advocacy projects across the country. Two voluntary organisations, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) and Values Into Action (VIA) are running separate schemes to develop and fund citizen advocacy and self advocacy respectively on the Department's behalf. Both organisations have steering groups to oversee the projects and to ensure fairness in the way the funds are allocated.
	The draft Mental Health Bill, published on 25 June 2002, provides for the first time that specialist mental health advocacy must be available for all patients being treated under compulsory powers and their nominated persons. This new duty ensures that patients can have the help of specialist advocacy when it is most needed. There are also proposals in the draft Bill for safeguards, including access to advocacy, for some adult patients who have a long-term incapacity to consent and who are in a hospital or nursing home receiving treatment for a serious mental disorder.
	Those subject to compulsory powers under mental health legislation have need of effective advocacy services. Some may temporarily lose the freedom to make the choices they might otherwise make. Others, because of long-term mental incapacity, may not be able to make informed choices about their care and treatment.

Agency Staff

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each NHS trust spent on agency (a) doctors and (b) nurses in each of the past five years.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on 5 June 2003, Official Report, column 570W.

Cleft Lip and Palate Services

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of specialist services for cleft lip and palate at Alderhey Hospital, Liverpool;
	(2)  what plans he has for consultation on the future of specialist cleft lip and palate services in the North West; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answers 4 June 2003
	The formal consultation on cleft lip and palate services in the North West is expected to commence in late June/beginning of July 2003.
	The three strategic health authorities in the North West; Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside and Cumbria and Lancashire, will be the formal consulting bodies. It is proposed that one consultation document will be published and circulated to a wide range of organisations, in accordance with the new arrangements for patient and public involvement.
	The assessment of cleft lip and palate services at the Alderhey Hospital, Liverpool will be encompassed in the formal consultation of the future of cleft lip and palate services in the North West.

Alzheimer's

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department does not routinely collect such information. There are a number of different estimates available. The research quoted by the older people's national service framework in 2001 estimated that approximately 600,000 people in the United Kingdom have dementia. It is estimated that about 5 per cent. of people over 65 have dementia and that Alzheimer's disease causes up to 60 per cent. of cases of dementia.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has commissioned a study of the long-term financial costs of (a) implements and (b) not implements the NICE recommendations in Technology Appraisal No. 43 for the use of modern antipsychotic drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has no plans to commission a study on the cost implications of the implementation of the schizophrenia guidance. The National Health Service has been provided with sufficient funds to implement all National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraisal guidance as it is expected that the following of the best clinical practices, suggested by NICE, may result in an increase in cost.

Asthma

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had asthma in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK (i) in 1980, (ii) in 1990, (iii) in 2000 and (iv) on the last date for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: Information on the prevalence of individual conditions is not collected centrally. However, it is estimated that up to 4 per cent., of adults and 4 per cent. to 6 per cent., of children are affected by asthma severely enough to require medical supervision. This equates to around 2 million people in England or 2.5 million in the United Kingdom.
	Data are not collected at constituency level or for the year 1980, however data for hospital admissions due to asthma by District Health Authority for the years 199091 and by national health service trusts for the years 200001 are shown in the tables.
	
		Primary diagnosis asthma (ICD9 code 493), district health authorities, finished consultant episodes, count of finished in-year admissions, NHS hospitals, 199091
		
			 District health authorities Total finished in-year admission episodes 
		
		
			 South Tyneside 197 
			 Sunderland 594 
			 North Tyneside 320 
			 Newcastle 611 
			 Gateshead 255 
			 England 75,872 
		
	
	
		Primary diagnosis asthma (ICD10 codes J45, J46), NHS trusts, finished consultant episodes, count of finished in-year admissions, NHS hospitals, 200001
		
			  
			 NHS trusts Total finished in-year admission episodes 
		
		
			 South Tyneside healthcare NHS trust 190 
			 City hospitals Sunderland NHS trust 341 
			 Gateshead health NHS trust 342 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals NHS trust 523 
			 Northumbria health care NHS trust 397 
			 England 60,376 
		
	
	Notes:1. The primary diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital2. Figures in this table have not been adjusted for shortfalls in dataSource:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health

Audiology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department is issuing to schools regarding the risks to hearing associated with loud music.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	Our health and safety advice to schools directs them to Health and Safety Commission guidance specific to schools, which mentions noise as a risk that should be managed. Health and safety law overall applies to everyone in a school, including pupils. We will repeat advice on exposure to noise in forthcoming guidance on acoustic design of schools.

Audiology

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatments are available to the hard of hearing on the NHS; and what support is given to deaf groups to assist people who have recently lost their hearing.

Stephen Ladyman: Following diagnosis of hearing impairment, the national health service will provide hearing aids or ear surgeryincluding fitting of cochlear implants and bone anchored hearing aids, as appropriate given the cause, type and degree of hearing impairment and the individual's needs. Support and hearing therapy available includes counselling, communication training/tactics, tinnitus therapy and help in coping with balance problems.
	The Department provides funding to a number of organisations who assist people with hearing loss. For the current financial year, this includes the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, National Association of Deafened People, National Deaf Children's Society, Link Centre for Deafened People, Deafblind UK, Sense, The Ear Foundation, Sign, UK Council on Deafness and the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to change the provision of (a) supported and (b) sheltered accommodation for those suffering from autistic spectrum disorders.

Stephen Ladyman: It is the responsibility of the relevant local statutory bodies to ensure that the particular health and social care needs of each person with autism are met with genuine choices for both clients and families, through the most appropriate community based services, in a cost-effective way. These options may, of course, include sheltered or supported accommodation.
	We are currently investing 154,000 over three years, through the Section 64 Scheme of Grants to Voluntary Organisations, in the National Autistic Society project Independence and Autism: Good Practice for Service Providers. This will support the development of new services to enable adults with autism or Asperger's syndrome to live independently.

Bridlington Hospital

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accredited training posts are in place at Bridlington Hospital; and what changes are planned to this number.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 13 June 2003
	There are currently five accredited senior house officer training posts at Bridlington and District Hospital. Options for future numbers of accredited training posts at the hospital are currently being considered.
	Source:
	Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust

British Sign Language

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many British Sign Language interpreters are provided by the NHS to teach and assist with treatment of people hard of hearing.

Stephen Ladyman: Information on British sign language (BSL) interpreters provided by the national health service is not held centrally. The provision of BSL interpreters is a local arrangement between the NHS service provider, client and local organisation providing a BSL interpreting service.

Cancer

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer treatment centres there are (a) in the UK and (b) in each GO region; how many people were treated at each centre in 2002; and what percentage of these were teenagers being treated in (a) specialist teenage cancer units and (b) general cancer centres.

Melanie Johnson: Cancer services in England are organised in 34 cancer networks. Cancer networks bring together primary, secondary, tertiary and voluntary service providers to plan and deliver specialist services across the patient pathway. Figures are available for the number of admissions by age group. In 200102, out of a total of 1,256,495 admissions for patients with cancer, 21,114 admissions were for patients between the ages of 13 to 19 years.

Cancer

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money is being allocated to cancer services in 200304 in North Yorkshire; and how much was allocated in 199798.

Stephen Ladyman: Resources for funding cancer services are included in general primary care trust allocations for 200304 and in the general allocations to health authorities for 199798. The Department does not have a figure for spending on cancer services in North Yorkshire in either year. We are confident that in 200304 national spending on cancer services will be over 570 million more than in 200001.

Cancer

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was allocated to cancer services in Cornwall in each of the last 10 years.

Melanie Johnson: Resources for funding cancer services are included in general primary care trust allocations for 200304 and in the general allocations to health authorities in the previous years. The Department of Health does not have a figure for total spend on cancer services in Cornwall. The South West Strategic Health Authority has advised that there has been significant investment in improving cancer services in Cornwall.
	This includes:
	Royal Cornwall Hospitals National Health Service Trust has invested over 7.2 million in improvements to its cancer services in the last two years;
	a new Clinical Oncology Department was opened at Treslike Hospital, Truro in April 2002, and received New Opportunities funding of 1 million for a new linear accelerator. The Department also has an additional chemotherapy suite; and
	in 200102, the cancer workforce at Treslike hospital increased by an additional four cancer nurse specialists; a lymphoedaema specialist; a speech and language therapist; and a cancer dietician. In 200203, a further five chemotherapy nurses and a senior cancer and palliative care pharmacist were recruited.

Care Standards

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations the Department has received from local authorities about the payment of the 12-week property disregard since the Care Standards Act 2000 came into force; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has received no representations from local authorities about the payment of the 12-week property disregard since the Care Standards Act 2000 was passed.

Care Standards

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements his Department has made to implement section 91 of the Care Standards Act 2000.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 17 June 2003
	The arrangements for employers to access the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List will be implemented when the list comes into operation. Before that, we will be consulting on draft guidance on the arrangements underpinning the operation of the list.

Carers

Tony McWalter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a means of monitoring the quantity and quality of breaks for carers.

Stephen Ladyman: The carers grant, worth 100 million this year, provides money for local councils to provide short breaks for carers to enable them to continue in their caring role. Information on the number of breaks for carers is collected annually.
	To support provision of good quality carers services, the Department published Quality Standards for Local Carer Support Services in February 2000. Monitoring the quality of services for carers is undertaken as part of the Social Service Inspectorate performance assessment function.

Children's Hospices

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is available from the (a) Carer's Special Grant and (b) Quality Protects Programme to fund respite care at children's hospices; and how many hospices have received money from these grants.

Stephen Ladyman: 20 per cent. of the carers grant is available for children's services. The grant is worth 100 million in 200304 and will continue until at least 2006, by which time it will be 185 million. Councils should use the grant to provide services breaks to carers. Guidance is available on the Government carers website at: www.carers.gov.uk Guidance on eligibility for accessing the Quality Protects (QP) programme funding is available at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/qualityprotects/workpro/project 6.htm
	Disabled children are a priority area in the QP programme. From 200102 to 200304, 60 million for the children's services special grant has been earmarked for services for disabled children and their families, with 15 million in 200102 and 200203 and 30 million in 200304. One of the areas local authorities have been told that expenditure should be targeted on is increased provision of family support services, including short-term breaks.
	We do not collect details of how much of the funding is used to fund respite care at children's hospices, nor the number of hospices that have received money from these grants.

Clinical Negligence

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent the NHS retains liability for compensating patients for clinical negligence suffered whilst undergoing treatment abroad under the Patient Choice initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Government's policy is that patients travelling abroad for treatment should have the same rights and remedies as patients being treated in the United Kingdom.
	Where a national health service patient is referred for treatment abroad under the Patient Choice initiative, the referring NHS trust retains a responsibility towards that patient.
	The referring NHS trust will therefore retain primary liability for any actions for clinical negligence brought by a patient in respect of NHS-funded treatment overseas.

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the advice given to him by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Stephen Ladyman: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will provide the Secretary of State with advice on a variety of different subjects. Some of this may be appropriate for publication. However, in other cases it may contain confidential information. It will be a matter for CSCI with the Secretary of State as appropriate, to decide if its advice should be published.

Community Equipment Services

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a progress statement on integration of community equipment services and additional funding for these services.

Stephen Ladyman: Of the 150 areas in England where there are expected to be integrated community equipment services, 111, or 74 per cent, are indicating currently that they will achieve local integration by the target date of April 2004. The integrating community equipment services team is supporting the remainder to achieve integration as soon as possible afterwards. Removal of the power of councils to charge for community equipment, which came into effect 9 June 2003, will further help integration by aligning councils' equipment charging regimes with the National Health Service.
	In addition to the amounts being made available in baseline funding, 7.4 million has been made available to councils for community equipment as part of the Access and Systems Grant in 200304. It is ring fenced for councils that are not three star or high-performing two star councils. The requirement to use this funding in a pooled budget has also given progress towards integration a boost.

Continuing Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 8 May 2003, Official Report, column 867W, on continuing care, what plans he has to place results of the exercise in the public domain.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 12 June 2003
	We have no current plans to publish the estimates of the number of people who may have been wrongly assessed under criteria not consistent with the Coughlan judgment.
	Copies of new continuing care criteria are available from strategic health authorities locally.

Dentists

Gerry Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists take patients in the (a) private sector, (b) public sector and (c) public and private sector in (i) England and (ii) the Durham constituency.

Rosie Winterton: At 12 June 2003, three general dental service (GDS) practices in the Durham constituency area were recorded on the www.nhs.uk website as accepting all categories of National Health Service patients for registration. In England, the total number of GDS practices accepting new patients was 4,917.
	NHS dental services are also available to patients who are not registered with a dentist, from GDS dentists providing treatment under the occasional treatment arrangements, from community dental services, personal dental services pilots and from hospitals.
	Information on dentists accepting new patients for private treatment only is not collected centrally. It is estimated that fewer than five per cent. of dental practices offer no NHS treatment at all.
	General dental practitioners are independent contractors and free to choose the proportion of NHS or private dentistry they provide in their practices. Most dentists choose to treat a combination of NHS and private patients.

Dentists

Gerry Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were registered with a dentist in each of the last five years in (a) England and (b) the City of Durham.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected by cities. The information in the table shows the number of patients registered with a general dental service (CDS) dentist at 30 September for the years 1998 to 2002 for England, for the years 19982001 for Durham County Health Authority and for 2002, for Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust. The City of Durham falls within these organisations.
	
		General Dental Service: Number of patients registered with a CDS dentist1998 to 2002 -- Thousands
		
			 At 30 September Number of patients registered 
		
		
			 England  
			 1998 23,497 
			 1999 23,470 
			 2000 23,658 
			 2001 23,577 
			 2002 23,471 
			 Durham County Health Authority  
			 1998 304 
			 1999 301 
			 2000 307 
			 2001 305 
			 Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust  
			 2002 63 
		
	
	Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their GDS dentist within the past 15 months. Many people choose not to register with a GDS dentist and seek only to visit a dentist when they require treatment.

Diabetes

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were treated for diabetes (a) in England and (b) in each constituency in the last year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: I regret that this information is not available in the format requested. However, an estimated 1.3 million people in England have diagnosed diabetes. A population of 100,000 would be expected to include between 2,000 and 3,000 people with diabetes.

Diabetes

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his target is for the number of diabetes specialists per head of population; what the current ratio is; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Targets are not set centrally with regard to numbers of specialists per head of population.
	The table shows the number of Hospital medical staff and consultants with a specialty in endocrinology and diabetes mellitus per head of population. It also shows the figure per 100,000 head of population, which is the standard ratio used by the Department.
	
		Headcount
		
			 England, as at30 September 2001 Number Per head of population(29) Per 100,000 head of population(30) 
		
		
			 All Grades 987 0.00002 2.0 
			 Consultants 428 0.00001 0.9 
		
	
	(29) Figures are rounded to 5 decimal places
	(30) Figures are rounded to 2 decimal places
	Source:
	Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census. 2001 ONS Population Census.
	Current workforce projections suggest that, by September 2004, there may be around 160 additional trained specialists available to take up consultant posts in endocrinology and diabetes mellitus, over a 2,000 baseline of 410.
	The national service framework for diabetes delivery strategy, published this year, calls for an examination of the workforce needed to deliver high quality diabetes care. Diabetes care, like many other conditions, relies on the valuable contribution of a wide range of staff as well as consultants. Combined with new ways of working, increasing numbers of staff will help to improve the experience of people with diabetes.
	The national service framework for diabetes delivery strategy is available in the Library.

Diabetes

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the number of diabetes specialists needed to cover the (a) Essex Strategic Health Authority and (b) Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust areas; and how many of the diabetes specialist posts are filled.

Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health does not set local targets for the number of diabetes specialists. It is for primary care trusts to decide the best approach to delivering the national standards to the communities they serve. Likewise, data on the local distribution of diabetes specialists are not held centrally.
	Government policy on diabetes is set out in the national service framework for diabetes delivery strategy, published this year. A copy of this is available in the Library.

Diabetes

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the medical advantages of the provision of insulin pump therapy for type I diabetics;
	(2)  what plans he has to make insulin pumps and infusion kits free of charge for diabetics who require them for medical reasons;
	(3)  when he expects to implement the guidance provided by NICE on insulin pump therapy;
	(4)  which health authorities provide insulin pump therapy at no cost;
	(5)  what estimates he has made of (a) the numbers of type I diabetics who require insulin pump therapy and (b) the costs of providing this service free of charge.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued its full guidance on the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for diabetes in February 2003. The guidance states that insulin pump therapy is an option for some people with type 1 diabetes. Health professionals are expected to take full account of this guidance when exercising their clinical judgment. Hospital consultants may prescribe equipment such as insulin pumps as part of national health service treatment. It is for the NHS locally to make decisions about the best use of its resources on the basis of its priorities and needs.

Enuresis

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on research into enuresis and the effects on long-term mental health.

Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health has not commissioned research into enuresis and its effect on long term mental health. However, there is a well documented association between enuresis and psychiatric disorder in community samples of children, though the causal relationships between the two may vary from child to child. A survey of the mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain (commissioned by the Department of Health and conducted by the Office for National Statistics in 1999) found that 23 per cent. of children who wet their beds had a mental disorder compared with a prevalence of mental disorder of 10 per cent. for all children assessed in the survey. No single specific disorder nor psychiatric symptom is associated with enuresis and the majority of children cease to wet their beds by adolescence. Persistence of enuresis, particularly beyond adolescence and into adulthood, can cause significant distress, affect self-esteem and may interfere with the confidence required to establish close relationships.

Hospital Funding

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds were made available to (a) Newark Hospital, (b) Ashfield Community Hospital, (c) Mansfield Community Hospital and (d) the Kings Mill Centre for Health Care Services in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	Figures are not collected on a hospital basis, but on a trust basis. The figures shown in the table are the total income, including all income from activities and all other operating income, for Sherwood Forest Hospitals National Health Service Trust and Newark and Sherwood Primary Care Trust.
	
		000
		
			  Total income 
			 Year Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust Newark and Sherwood Primary Care Trust 
		
		
			  
			  
			 200102 102,773 76,730 
			 200001 74,933 65,708 
			 19992000 73,397  
		
	
	Notes:
	1. In 19992000, Sherwood Forest NHS Trust was formerly known as The Kingsmill Centre for Healthcare Services.
	2. With effect from 1 April 2001, Sherwood Forest Hospitals absorbed the acute services of Central Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Because of reconfigurations to services within the Nottinghamshire area, the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust income is not directly comparable over this period.
	3. Primary Care Trusts were not established until 20002001.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the Kingsmill Centre Healthcare Services NHS Trust 19992000 (see note 1), Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust and Newark and Sherwood Primary Care Trust 200001 to 200102.

Genetic Testing

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who is being consulted and what guidelines are planned to ensure that patients who take advantage of genetic testing to identify and combat hereditary or latent genetic predispositions toward certain conditions do not have such information made available to third parties through doctors and other medical practitioners; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Data Protection Act 1998, the Access to Medical Reports Act 1998 and the common law of confidentiality already provide the foundation for ensuring the confidentiality of such information. Following a public consultation exercise, which finished in January 2003, the Government will also be introducing a Code of Practice on confidentiality for the national health service in summer 2003.

Hayfever

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research he has carried out to establish the extent to which the incidence of hayfever can be ascribed to environmental causes.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 16 June 2003
	The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which receives its funding from the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office for Science and Technology.
	The MRC spent an estimated 11.9 million in 200102 on its respiratory disorders portfolio. Although this does not include any specific research into hayfever, it does include work on allergies.
	There is no ongoing research in the Department of Health into hayfever but the Department commissioned a study on air pollution and general practitioner consultations for allergic rhinitis (hayfever) from St. George's Hospital, London, as part of its last air pollution and health research programme. The study (by Hajal et al) was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (volume 153, page 704) in 2001.

Hayfever

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of hayfever sufferers in each year since 1997, broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on current trends.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 16 June 2003
	It is not possible to state the number of people who have been diagnosed as suffering from allergies that include hayfever. This is due to the fact that many people diagnose themselves, and buy remedies at their local pharmacy, or are diagnosed by their general practitioner or appropriate clinic. It is however estimated that at least 15 per cent. of the population is affected by some form of allergy.
	Information on the number of admissions to national health service hospitals in England between 199798 and 200102 where the primary diagnosis could be described as hayfever (allergic rhinitis due to pollen), is shown in the table.
	
		Primary diagnosis (ICD10 J30.1) allergic rhinitis due to pollen, finished consultant episodes (FCEs), count of finished in year admissions, NHS hospitals, -- England 199798 to 200102
		
			  FCEs 
		
		
			  
			  
			 199798 69 
			 199899 88 
			 19992000 182 
			 200001 95 
			 200102 119

Social Services

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on why, under Clause 73 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill, the Commission for Social Care Inspection will have a duty to keep only the Secretary of State informed about the provision of English local authority social services.

Stephen Ladyman: The Commission for Social Care Inspection will be under a duty to lay an annual report of its findings before Parliament and to make public the results of any reviews and investigations that it has carried out into English local authority social services. Since the Secretary of State for Health has overall responsibility for the provision of social care throughout England, Clause 73 of the Bill makes specific provision for the Commission to keep him informed. This is necessary for the Secretary of State to fulfil his accountability to Parliament for services and to make him aware of any issues on which he may need to take particular action.

Social Services

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons, under Clause 81 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill, the Commission for Social Care Inspection must obtain the consent of the Secretary of State before publishing statements about the criteria to be used in the exercise of its functions.

Stephen Ladyman: It is the responsibility of Ministers to set priorities and standards for social services on behalf of service users and the public generally. The Commission for Social Care Inspection's (CSCI) inspection criteria must be approved by Ministers to ensure they reflect these priorities and standards.
	CSCI will, of course, be responsible for drawing up the criteria in the first instance. This will allow CSCI to satisfy itself that the criteria against which local authorities will be reviewed are appropriate and reflect the needs of service users.

Kidney Disease

David Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to reduce the period between (a) the emergence of symptoms and (b) diagnosis, and referral to nephrologists for kidney patients; and what estimate he has made of the costs of such changes.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 13 June 2003
	Guidelines are being developed by the relevant professional organisations for the referral and early management of people with chronic kidney disease. For people with diabetes, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has published guidelines for regular testing for renal disease in its document, Management of Type 2 diabetes: Renal disease-prevention and early management.

Health Services (Leeds)

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients (i) the Leeds acute teaching hospitals NHS trust and (ii) its predecessor acute trusts treated in each year since 1995.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		Hospital episode statistics: finished consultant episodes (FCEs(31)) for the Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust, 199798 to 200001
		
			 Period Number of in-patients treated 
		
		
			 199798 (32)197,138 
			 199899 203,104 
			 19992000 197,381 
			 200001 207,764 
			 200102 204,307 
		
	
	(31) An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year.
	(32) In 199798 the hospital was two organisations. St. James and Seacroft university hospitals NHS Trust (104,538) and United Leeds teaching hospital (92,600).Data in this table are not grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data.Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.
	
		
			 Period Out-patients first attendances seen Subsequent attendances seen Total attendances seen 
		
		
			  Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust 
			 200203 Quarter 3 42,654 137,070 179,724 
			 200203 Quarter 2 42,419 140,016 182,435 
			 200203 Quarter 1 42,050 139,371 181,421 
			 200102 172,679 540,788 713,467 
			 200001 180,943 569,441 750,384 
			 19992000 175,990 555,463 731,453 
			 199899 181,372 634,317 815,689 
			  St. James's and Seacroft university hospital 
			 199798 75,988 255,799 331,787 
			 199697 72,766 236,428 309,194 
			 199596 74,506 233,073 307,579 
			  United Leeds teaching hospitals 
			 199798 105,688 366,475 472,163 
			 199697 99,752 424,546 524,298 
			 199596 93,330 425,245 518,575

Mental Health

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of funding per capita is being spent by (a) South Sefton Primary Care Trust and (b) Southport and Formby Primary Care Trust on services for people with mental health difficulties in the current financial year; and what the average spending per capita is of Primary Care Trusts in England.

Stephen Ladyman: The average spending per capita on services for people with mental health difficulties in the current financial year is 153.82 by South Sefton Primary Care Trust and 130.51 by Southport and Formby Primary Care Trust. Figures for the whole of England are not collated.

Mental Health

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on mental health services in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: Data on expenditure by the London borough of Wandsworth on personal social services (PSS) for those aged 65 or over with mental health needs, expenditure by the national health service on mental health solely within Wandsworth, and NHS expenditure on primary care mental illness are not available centrally.
	Gross expenditure by the London borough of Wandsworth on PSS for adults under 65 with mental health needs for the years 19992000 to 200102 (the latest year for which data are available) is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Expenditure ( million) 
		
		
			 19992000 7.8 
			 200001 6.9 
			 200102 6.2 
		
	
	Source:
	Form RO3 for 19992000, form PSS EX1 for 200001 and 200102
	Expenditure on the commissioning of secondary care mental illness in the Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority area for 19992000 to 200102 (the last year for which data are available) is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Expenditure ( million) 
		
		
			 19992000 59.4 
			 200001 64.8 
			 200102 71.5 
		
	
	Sources:
	1. Health authority audited summarisation forms 19992000 to 200102.
	2. Primary care trust audited summarisation schedules 200001 and 200102.

Mental Health

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals, and how many per 1,000 of the adult population, were detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act in each local authority area in England in (a) 1990, (b) 2000 and (c) 2002.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not collected in the form requested.
	However, the information available has been placed in the Library. This shows numbers of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 in national health service facilities, excluding high security psychiatric hospitals, aggregated by health authority area in England. Data for 198990 are given at England level only.

Neurology

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on neurology services.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 69091W, by the then Minister of State.

Newark Hospital

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been in the services offered by Newark Hospital over the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	All of the local health and social care organisations within north Nottinghamshire were created post-April 2000.
	A merging of acute services of Central Nottinghamshire Healthcare National Health Service Trust into Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust came into effect from 1 April 2001. This resulted in an increase in income for the trust between 200001 and 200102.
	A new clinical strategy was agreed for Newark Hospital in 2002. The implementation of this strategy will require additional investment into the hospital. This investment will be funded from sources such as the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust block capital allocation and the local delivery plan for 200304 to 200506.

Newark Hospital

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to create a paediatric facility at Newark Hospital.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	There is already a paediatric outpatient service available at Newark Hospital. The clinical strategy for the hospital, which was established in 2002, includes the retention of that service.

Newark Hospital

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to change acute services offered in Newark hospital in the immediate future.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	There are no plans to change the existing acute services provided by Newark hospital.
	There is agreement between Sherwood Forest hospitals national health service trust and the three local primary care trustsNewark and Sherwood PCT, Ashfield PCT and Mansfield PCTthat acute services in central Nottinghamshire will be delivered from King's Mill and Newark hospitals.

NHS Teams

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the (a) early intervention teams, (b) crisis resolution teams and (c) assertive outreach teams proposed in the NHS plan are in place; and whether the targets for establishing them will be met by the end of 2003.

Rosie Winterton: The most recent data from the mental health service mapping database show that 24 early intervention teams, 97 crisis resolution teams, and 212 assertive outreach teams are in place. Good progress is being made to achieve the set targets as stated in the NHS Plan.

NHS Trusts/MPs Meetings

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times (a) North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) Warrington Primary Care Trust have met each Member of Parliament in their area in the past year.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not held centrally by the Department.

Nursing Homes

Gerry Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken in the last 12 months to inspect nursing homes in the private sector.

Stephen Ladyman: The National Care Standards Commission has been set up to register and inspect care and other homes in the private sector in England. It is an independent regulatory body created by the Care Standards Act, which aims to raise the standards of care offered by registered services. It is accountable to the Secretary of State for Health and to Parliament for its actions.

Parliamentary Questions

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the hon. Member for West Chelmsford's written question No. 118905 received a holding answer when the information required was published by the Department of Health five days prior to the date for answer.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested was published as a Statistical Press Notice on 6 June 2003, as part of the Department's programme of publishing statistical information. However, the process of preparing replies to Parliamentary Questions does take a certain amount of time. I regret that, on this occasion, the hon. Member did not receive a timely reply to his question.

Patient Compensation

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to make additional funding available to strategic health authorities to meet the cost of recompensing patients who are found to have been wrongly denied access to NHS continuing care.

Stephen Ladyman: Additional funding has been made available in 200203.

Patient Compensation

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made of the possible costs to individual (a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts of recompensing patients found to have been wrongly denied access to NHS continuing care.

Stephen Ladyman: In their 200203 annual accounts, national health service organisations are required to include a provision for expenditure, where it is probable that future payments will be required and a reliable estimate of these payments can be made.
	The 200203 audited annual accounts will be available locally in September and centrally in autumn.

Pay Audits

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on completing a pay audit in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies to measure any disadvantage in terms of remuneration for (a) women, (b) ethnic minorities and (c) people with disabilities; and if he will publish the results of such an audit.

Rosie Winterton: We have completed the review of our pay systems in line with the Government's commitment in response to the Equal Opportunities (EOC) Task Force Just Pay report. There was found to be no significant disadvantages revealed by the equal pay review, although there is some further consideration being given in three areas.
	A copy of our report, which includes the action plan, has been placed in the Library.

Prescriptions

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much a pharmacist received for processing a prescription in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Remuneration paid to community pharmacies is intended to cover the generality of the national health service pharmaceutical services they provide. The scope of these services is not restricted just to dispensing prescriptions and has changed over time.
	The dispensing fees paid to community pharmacy contractors vary according to the item prescribed. The large majority of prescriptions attract a basic dispensing fee, the current rate of which is 94.6 pence per item. However, if the total remuneration paid to community pharmacies in each year is divided by the number of dispensing fees paid, the result is as shown in the table.
	
		Value of payments made to community pharmacies in England and Wales, per dispensing fee received
		
			  Number of dispensing fees paid (prescription items dispensed)in millions Total paid ( million) Dispensing fee paid per prescription item dispensed () 
		
		
			 199697 487.9 693.6 1.42 
			 199798 505.8 712.2 1.41 
			 199899 518.3 724.7 1.40 
			 19992000 535.7 760.8 1.42 
			 200001 561.8 784.9 1.40 
			 200102 595.5 798.6 1.34 
			 200203 633.7 834.7 1.32

Renal National Service Framework

David Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress has been made on the renal National Service Framework; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the costs arising from the renal National Service Framework; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answers 13 June 2003
	The renal national service framework will be published in due course. It will set national standards and provide a national direction for renal services that will need to be achieved over 10 years. The renal standards will sit alongside a programme for reform and sustained investment in the national health service.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many PhD students, involved in rheumatoid arthritis research, are funded by (a) public and (b) charitable funds.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no PhD students involved in rheumatoid arthritis research from the national primary care awards, national public health awards, national clinician scientist awards, complementary and alternative medicine awards or nursing and allied health professions awards.
	The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments of disease is the Medical Research Council, which receives its funding from the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology. It does not hold information on the projects being undertaken by PhD students funded by itself.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list the primary care trusts that do not fund anti-TNF therapy for patients with rheumatoid arthritis where that treatment is clinically indicated;
	(2)  what (a) national and (b) local departmental targets relate to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Stephen Ladyman: The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended the use of anti-TNF therapy in March 2002. We have issued directions obliging strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to provide appropriate funding for treatments recommended by NICE. This is in line with our manifesto commitment to ensure that patients receive drugs and treatments recommended by NICE on the national health service if considered appropriate by their clinicians. The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) and NICE have agreed a methodology for CHI to incorporate the monitoring of NICE guidance in its clinical governance reviews. Specifically CHI now looks to see if NHS trusts have mechanisms in place to implement and comply with NICE guidance. CHI will also support and facilitate clinicians to discuss when NICE guidance is and is not followed on an individual patient basis.
	There are no specific national targets relating to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, maximum waiting times have already been reduced to 21 weeks for a first out-patient appointment from general practitioner referral, and national targets have been set for further reductions. Rheumatoid arthritis patients waiting for first out-patient appointments stand to benefit from these improvements.
	Information about local targets relating to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is not collected centrally.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) NHS and (b) non-NHS staff are employed by the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Trust, broken down by department.

Rosie Winterton: The latest figure available for national health service staff employed by the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust is for 2001, when there were 2,605 NHS staff employed by the trust.
	Information on the number of non-NHS staff employed by the trust is not held centrally.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per week to each department of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Trust is of employing non-NHS staff.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not held centrally in the format requested.
	Non-national health service staff expenditure is collected by staff classification and not by hospital department.
	The total salary and wage cost of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust employing non-NHS staff, for the whole of the financial year 200102, is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Non-NHS staff(33)  
			 (by NHS staff classification) Expenditure () 
		
		
			 Medical 456,690 
			 Dental 0 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting 750,846 
			 Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 0 
			 Administrative and clerical 15,506 
			 Healthcare assistants and other support staff 45,805 
			 Maintenance and works staff 0 
			 Ambulance staff 0 
			 Other employees 22,275 
			 Total non-NHS staff salaries and wages 1,291,122 
		
	
	(33) Non-NHS staff expenditure figures include all agency staff and any other staff not directly employed by individual NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities.
	Source:
	Annual financial returns of the Royal Shrewsbury NHS Trust 200102.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to change services available in each of the four hospitals comprising Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 June 2003
	There are plans to redevelop the services provided by Sherwood Forest Hospitals National Health Service Trust through the modernisation of acute services (MAS) project.
	The MAS project incorporates a complete re-modelling of the way in which acute healthcare services are provided across central Nottinghamshire, with the population of central Nottinghamshire benefiting from a truly modern and dependable acute healthcare service.
	The plans for redevelopment of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust are currently at outline business case stage (OBC), following the approval of the first documentthe strategic outline case (SOC), by the Secretary of State for Health in February 2001.
	The SOC was approved on the basis that the MAS scheme is procured through the Government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
	Details of the MAS outline business case for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust can be accessed from the board meetings section on Trent Strategic Health Authority's website at www.trent-sha.nhs.uk/board meetings/16 4 03/

Waiting Lists/Times

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the Mid-Essex Hospital Trust area were waiting for in-patient treatment in the most recent month for which he has statistics.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 12 June
	There were 8,634 patients waiting for in-patient treatment at Mid-Essex Hospital Services National Health Service Trust at the end of April 2003.
	Source:
	Department of Health Monthly Monitoring Figures

Waiting Lists/Times

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) North East Lincolnshire PCT and (b) North Lincolnshire PCT waited over 12 months for an operation in each quarter from 31 March 2002.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Primary Care Trust (PCT) 
			 Quarter ended North East Lincolnshire PCT North Lincolnshire PCT 
		
		
			 June 2002 5 4 
			 September 2002 1 1 
			 December 2002 1 1 
			 March 2003 0 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health Form Q FOI (Commissioner based hospital waiting list statistics)

Waiting Lists/Times

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the most recent quarter's statistics on accident and emergency waiting times will be available.

Rosie Winterton: The release date for accident and emergency activity for the period January to March 2003, is 20 June. Release dates for quarterly information on accident and emergency services are announced in national statistics updatesthe release dates diary for national statisticsavailable at: http://www.nationalstatistics.org.uk/pdfdir/updates.pdf